Crimson Ink
by Piper-Knight
Summary: Sakura is captured by the Akatsuki, and is forced to join their ranks. But it wasn't all for nothing, and secrets she never knew existed are revealed by people she never even dreamed of getting close to. SakuraxAkatsuki
1. Capture

**Piper: I'm trying to get back into writing. I've been getting laaazzzyy.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**WARNINGS: There may be things wrong because I don't read the manga (but I do have a very useful site that lends me the information I need along with reading many fanfiction), Cursing, Blood, Violence**

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Chapter 1 - Capture

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**Sakrua Haruno**

My feet thudded against each branch as I darted through the trees, bobbing and weaving in an uneven pattern. I gasped as a thick patch of black strings came from behind. I flipped backwards, watching as they crashed into the trunk of thick tree. They slithered out of their holes easily and shot back towards me. I could feels their tips brushed my ankles as I jumped to a higher branch, and yanked my feet from their reach.

The strands shot up from below and looped back downwards, coming straight at me from all angles. I lifted my foot and filled it with chakra before slamming it onto the thick branch beneath me. I fell down as the branch snapped like a twig beneath my strength, and the strands pierced the spot I used to stand like tiny little arrows.

I leapt to another tree once I landed on a branch below, and there was an almost blinding flash of silver as a three bladed scythe drilled through the air. I saw a few pieces of my pink locks go air born as the scythe barely scraped my hair as I dodged backwards. I could hear a string of curses from from one of my attackers as his scythe was bedded into the bark of the tree.

Jumping once more, I did a sharp twist in mid air as the string came back once more, curving through the air at my tiring figure. Some of the closer pieces tore through the side of my shirt and sank into my skin like a hot knife through butter. Once I landed I pushed a small dose of my chakra to the wound, and felt my side begin to mend and halt the blood rushing to be free.

I wildly went through different options, most being cancelled out as I kept moving to dodge my attackers and stay balanced on each branch. A hiss escaped me as the scythe once again swooped in for an attack, and I twisted my arm sharply. The scythe once again hit a tree, but with my arm trapped between two of its three blades. The blades had enough space between the tips for my arm to have enough room to move. I slipped my arm out quickly and bounded forward.

My body arched slightly, just enough to let another waves of the strings miss me by a hair, and I landed close enough to my attackers to see their faces. Both of them had discarded the black cloaks with red clouds that I had gotten a glimpse of them wearing before the battle had began. One had dark skin and odd colored eyes, pupilless with the whites of his eyes stained blood red and the middle electric green. The strings he was attacking me with were seeping from open stitches on his skin, and they seemed to be almost everywhere on his body.

The other only wore ninja pants, his extremely pale upper body exposed. A silver pendant was clutched in his hand, and his expression was that of pure anger and annoyance. His dark purple eyes stared as I leapt out of the trees, and his silver hair was untouched by the wind as it was thickly slicked back.

My foot just touched ground when the dark skinned man sent a sea of his strands towards me, and I pushed some chakra into my feet and pounced into the air. The strings curved just before they hit the ground, and followed my movements at an angle. I twisted, and it followed. Frustration built inside me, and I laced my fist with chakra as I dived towards the ground.

The tips brushed my arms, but stopped when I connected with the earth, fist first. The ground exploded around me and shook in violent tremors as my power unearthed the soil around us. A cloud of dust from the broken up ground halted the strings, for their master couldn't see where to direct them. I weaved through the dust and flew through the cloud at my attackers. As soon as I was in sight I could hear the strings flying after me.

I drew back my fist and flung it forward when I got closer. The dark haired man pulled back, dodging my fist, but didn't see the core of my plans. My feet landed on his shoulders, and I pushed off them as I flung myself at his pale companion. His purple eyes widened, before his scythe went flying through the air. I twisted, and felt the tips cut through my shorts but nothing more, and snapped out my leg.

His head clicked as my foot connected with his head, and a loud curse spilled from his lips. My other foot came down on his forehead, and I pushed myself away with that. My eyes widened as his arm snapped up, and his fingers slid over the surface of my ankle. I jerked when the clamped close, and he pulled back as his other hand wrapped around his first. He spun me around and released.

My back exploded with pain as I smashed through two thick trees, splinters flying around me and bedding themselves into my skin. I hit a third tree and it dented at the force of my impact. Copper came up from my throat, and I cough. Crimson dribbled down my chin, and I raised my head defiantly.

I rubbed my gloved hand to my chin and wiped the blood away. A small bit pooled at the corner of my mouth, and I licked it away. Copped laced my taste buds, and I resisted the urge to cough once more.

"God damn it! Why don't you just stay down?" The pale one of my two attackers growled when I darted out of the broken tree line.

The string swooped almost lazily towards me, and I knew he was slowing down because I was loosing. We all knew it, but I was determined to go out with a fight. I rolled forward, and they scraped against my shoulder in my attempt. I hissed in pain, and drew some chakra to my wound. It glimmered green, and my attackers stared at the faint glow curiously in a pause, and looked almost slightly surprised to see the wound gone when it subsided.

_'I shouldn't have done that,'_ I thought to myself as another round of black thread rocketed my way in a sea of black, _'I need to save some chakra incase I manage to get close to them again.'_

My thought pattern died away quickly as I swerved around to dodge once more, but was instantly alerted of the two terrors coming at me at once. Both the scythe and the thread were cutting through the air, and I had no time to think of a proper dodge before they came upon me. I threw my self forward, and heard the scythe hit the dirt and I almost thought that I had evaded the string as well.

Almost.

Something slid around each of my arms, flexing like stirred waters, before wrapping completely around and pulling. I gasped as several more came around. Several slid around my ankles and knees, while a thick patch curved around my middle. A single thread, yet very intimidating and very threatening slithered around my throat and coiled around it a couple of times. The tip pressed into my jugular like a knife, and the thread suddenly reminded me of a furious cobra.

The strings pulled me over to my attackers, suspending me in the air upside down. I glared weakly at the both of them as blood rushed to my head, angry at the smirk curving the lips of the pale one.

The dark skinned one leaned forward, our eyes only inches away from one another. Our gazes flashed, mine full of hatred, while his looked infuriatingly bored. He drew back his arm, and his fist swung around to the back of my head. My eye sight blurred, and I felt myself fall into darkness. The last thing I saw was a red cloud surround by black when my attacker, now my kidnapper, tossed me over his shoulder.

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I woke on a rotten cot in what looked like to be a very cheap hotel. The whole room was falling apart. The bed sheets were ripped and stained, the window had a thick layer of tape covering the spots where it was broken, the carpet was a disgusting shade of brown that it had obviously had not been colored originally, and the walls and ceiling were chipped.

My body tingled with icy pain as I moved into a sitting position, and something rubbed bitingly against my wrists. I looked down and saw a shimmering pair of cuffs around my wrists. Frowning, I attempted to push some chakra into my fists and break them apart. Anger flashed through me when I could only pull a tiny, useless flake of chakra from what I knew was a vast amount.

Warm air blew past my ear, and a deep voice said, "It's useless to try."

I stumbled off the bed, and spun around quickly. The pale kidnapper smirked at me from his kneeling position on the other side of the bed, and tapped his throat tauntingly.

Confused, I raised both hands to my throat. A leather choker collar was attached to my throat, and when I gave it the slightest tug a jolt of cold electricity shot into my fingers and zapped my bones. I pulled away with a gasp, and flexed my fingers in an attempt to get the feeling back into them.

The man threw his head back and laughed, "Nice try, bitch! But that little piece of jewelry is courtesy of the Akatsuki. This fucking thing makes it so you can only use about this much," He made a small gesture with his thumb and pointer finger, keeping them apart only a couple of inches, "chakra. It'll only come off if one of us say so, and I wouldn't fucking even dream of it coming off any damn time soon!"

My heart tried to escape up my throat, and I swallowed. Akatsuki. I was kidnapped by Akatsuki. There wasn't much information on these guys except the top secret stuff one could only access with a very high social status. I was the Hokage's trusted apprentice, and of course I had to handle her documents when she was to drunk to even speak coherently. The Akatsuki was an organization slowly building a horrible reputation through out the ninja lands, whispers of their killings held in top secret files.

I spun towards the cracked and dirtied full length mirror, and examined the collar. It was black, and was not as big as my neck. Both ends came around, and in the front they were chained by one link to a medium sized piece of metal in the same shape and color as the clouds that was sewn onto my two kidnappers cloaks. The flat little piece of metal was oddly cold against my neck, and never changed temperature even though the blood underneath my skin should have warmed it by now.

The door to the hotel room suddenly opened, and the dark skinned kidnapper slid in and kicked the door shut with a forceful kick. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, and it was bulging almost all over. The pale one watched him distastefully, even as the man dumped the bag open on the bed and piles of money pooled out.

The man's oddly colored red and green eyes had a very satisfied glint in them as he looked over the money, almost as if it was the only thing that brought him joy.

Angry at being ignored and without answers, I bursted out, "Who the hell are you two?"

They both looked up at me, and the pale one twirled a stray kunai in his hands, I recognized it from my own set of weapons Tsunade had given me as a birthday present, "Like I said, bitch, we're Akatsuki."

I sneered, "That's not either of your names, and stop calling me that!"

There was a short movement, and suddenly there was a pointed black thread pressing into my throat. My eyes trailed up it, and found it had slithered out of the dark skinned man's cloak.

"Know your place, woman," He said in a husky tone, "And keep quiet. I'm counting." The thread retreated from my throat and retreated up his sleeve, and the man sat on the edge of the bed before rifling through his money. I thought I saw some speckles of crimson on the surface of the currency, and I didn't want to know how he had come to obtain this money.

The pale man murmured something darkly, and I could barely catch the words, "money grubbing" and "bastard". The dark skinned one narrowed his eyes at the other, and said in a tone that screamed annoyed, "Shut up."

"Make me, stitch face!" The pale one instantly shouted back, and I had the feeling this was part of their regular routine.

I frowned at the pair as an argument settled into the air, and glanced towards the door. From what I saw, he didn't lock when he had come in and there was no distinct click when the door shut. I inched around the bed slowly, staring intently as the two as their voices raised violently. Once I came to a point, I spun on my heel and bolted. There was a noise of surprise from the pale one when he saw my sudden movement.

Thread shot at me as I opened the door, and I threw myself into the hallway. I heard the thread crash into the door, and wood splinters flew around me as I darted down the hallway. My mind panicked at the thought that I might've come to a dead end, but I found the stairs and lunged for the railing as a very familiar scythe made a loud _'THUD'_ as it hit the thin wall where my head would've been. An even more familiar voice cursed up a storm down the hallway.

I was halfway down the stairs when a thread wrapped around my ankle and tugged. I gasped as I tripped forward, and the last thing I felt was a great pain blooming in my forehead at the impact of hitting the edge of a stair face first.

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**Piper: Oh, wow. I can't believe I actually did it! You guys don't know how excited I am! I haven't had inspiration like this since my Lightning/Hope one-shot!**

**I'll try to have the next chapter up before a weeks time! I really want to know how I did.**

**Please review!**


	2. Traveling Companions

**Piper: I want to give a big thank you to all who reviewed and favorited!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 2 - Traveling Companions

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**Sakura Haruno**

I pulled at the tiny little bit of chakra I could use, and pushed it towards the cut on my forehead. I could feel it tingle pleasantly, but it didn't heal. I didn't have enough chakra to heal it, but I had enough to make the wound more comfortable every half-hour when I could once again pull out a strand of chakra.

Considering my kidnappers had seemingly no medical knowledge at all, or they just didn't want to heal me, I was left with a gash on my forehead that the dark skinned one stitched up. When I had gotten a glimpse of his work, I was a bit surprised at how professional the stitching was for someone as rugged as he was. Then again, it seemed like all of his body was put together and hanging on by stitches, so I shouldn't have been so surprised.

My little attempt at escaping had done nothing put pissed them off, really. I had drawn the attention of some of the residents in the hotel bar when I came tumbling down the stairs, and something must have started after I blacked out. I could tell because the pale one seemed less angry and more content, and his scythe was stained with crimson.

I didn't have a doubt in my mind that they slaughtered everyone on the premises. The thought shook me up a bit, seeing as how they walked so causally ahead of me like they hadn't done anything wrong. I kept telling myself that the state of the hotel meant that only rotten scum visited there, but it didn't work very well. Even if the people located there had been murders, rapists, prostitutes, or anything related to that, they were all face down in a pool of their own blood now.

My arms tugged, I snapped out of my thoughts. After my little escape, it seemed that I was no longer trusted enough to have some freedom, and the dark haired one kept one of his threads tied around my hand cuffs. He got irritated when I lagged behind, and I often found myself tumbling to the ground if he got too impatient.

Cursing underneath my breath, I hurried forward so that I wouldn't have to scrap my knees against the dirt again. I looked down at said knees, and frowned. They were bloody and dirty, some trails trickling down my legs and into my boots. Most of it was dried by now due to the fact that the last time I had fell was about half a mile back.

We were nearing a village. I could tell by the shapes rising over the tree tops. I didn't know if it was just a small town or a hidden village, because I honestly had no idea which way we were traveling in. My sense of direction flew out the window when I got kidnapped. All I knew was that we had been traveling almost all day, and I hadn't eaten anything for three days. I was on my way back from a mission when they had attacked, and I had been traveling on an empty stomach due to the lack of food I packed.

As we got closer to the village, we came to a bulletin board a little ways away from the entrance. The dark skinned man stopped to look over the papers posted on the board, much to my and the pale man's annoyance. He leaned forward, his nose almost touching the paper, as he scanned along different bounties put up.

I sighed loudly, irritated. We had been traveling all day; the sky was just beginning to paint its self pink and red as the sun sank below the horizon, and I was hungry. Those bastards had already eaten earlier, and had done so very tauntingly in front of me while I was tied to a tree. My stomach stilled ached at the wonderful smell of well cooked food.

"Hurry the fuck up, Kakuzu," The pale man bit out, and my eyes flickered.

A name. Kakuzu was the dark skinned man. I deflated all most as quick as I had perked up. There was really no point in knowing their names if they were just going to kill me, sell me, or what ever plans they had hidden up their sleeves.

"Shut up, Hidan."

Another name, also useless. At least I could call them by name now, even though I couldn't think of reason why I would have to direct anything at them except for a swift kick in the groin.

Kakuzu drew back from the bulletin and turned towards the town, "Come. We're going to meet up with Itachi and Kisame here."

Now, those names were familiar. I bristled, and stumbled forward as Kakuzu tugged on my cuffs.

"Why the hell do we need to see those bastards?" Hidan shouted, making no movement to follow Kakuzu.

Kakuzu looked over his shoulder darkly, tugging me forward once more ("Cut it out!"), and said, "There are some bounties I want to take. We'll drop the girl off with them, since they are going right back to the base. They should complete their mission soon and pass through this town on their way back. We'll give her to them when they do."

Hidan started cursing up a storm, complaining about how he didn't want to travel around for another week killing random men for the money placed on their heads. I walked next to him, praying that the heavens would drop down a pair of ear muffs and a big bowl of steaming ramen. I stopped praying for the ramen when my stomach started to growl again.

We stopped a little ways away from the gate, and Kakuzu removed my cuffs. He bent down on one knee in front of me, taking out a cloth from one of his many inner cloak pockets. He took a canteen and let the cloth get soaked in the cool liquid. He clean up my knees before standing back up, putting his things back into his cloak. He narrowed his eyes at me, and said threateningly, "Pull anything, and I won't hesitate to kill you."

It was a simple threat, but it sent shivers down my spine. Telling by Hidan's grin, I guessed that my shiver was definitely noticable. I frowned at him, and followed Kakuzu into through the entrance. We got many stares, even though Hidan and Kakuzu had removed their cloaks before they entered. I looked around, and pleaded with my eyes for someone to notice me. But it seemed everyone was to busy thinking I was their personal whore.

Annoyed, I looked at the back of Kakuzu's head as we carefully moved through and around crowds of people. I followed them into a homey looking ramen stand that reminded me greatly of home. I was so shocked at how much it felt like home, that I almost expected to see a certain blonde haired ninja sitting at the bar once we entered through the curtains. My stomach ached painfully, but not for food.

We sat at the bar, the only people there except for the cooks and one suspicious looking male at the other end of the bar. I stared at the table in front of me, thinking of home. I was so lost in my thoughts, that I was startled when a steaming bowl of ramen was pushed under my nose.

I jerked up, and looked at Kakuzu in surprise. The look on his face clearly told me not to say anything. I pursed my lips, lowering my eyebrows. I stared at him hard, before giving him a small nod. I picked up my chopsticks and dug in. As much as I wanted to just wanted to pig out, I had a feeling that I might not be fed for a while if I was going to the Akatsuki base, with Itachi Uchiha no doubt.

Last to finish eating, I rushed the last bit of my food at the pointed stared Kakuzu gave me and pushed my bowl towards the man behind the counter. We turned to leave the stand, and I felt a strong presence of chakra heading near. Kakuzu and Hidan themselves had a very power chakra signature, and the two heading this way were no different. The might've been even more powerful then Hidan and Kakuzu, but I couldn't tell. If they were, it was a little difference.

Once outside the curtains, standing just a few feet away from the stand, were Itachi and Kisame. I remembered their appearances from their folders I looked at while working at the Hokage's office one day. They fit perfectly, looking more defined then any picture could've tried to capture, and a bit older. The pictures weren't very up to date, so it was no surprise that they had matured.

Itachi Uchiha's stone gaze pierced through me like an icy knife. My stomach felt hollow despite its new filling, feeling cold and painful. Itachi's features were sharper and more defined then Sasuke's, but the resemblance was there. For a moment all I could see was my old team mate glaring at me through Itachi's eyes, and felt a bit of home sickness. Even though I had gotten over my old child hood obsession, it still hurt to remember what Team 7 used to be. To remember what Team 7 would never be again.

"This is her?" Itachi's deep voice cut through the silence.

"Yes," Kakuzu said, and pushed me roughly towards them.

I stumbled right into Kisame, who sent a wicked grin down at me.

"We're going to do some extra bounties. Tell Leader that we'll be there within the next week," Kakuzu told them, bringing on a round of muttered curses and complaints from Hidan.

We didn't start traveling right away. After Kakuzu and Hidan left we went to a hotel a few buildings down and rented a room. I was cuffed to the nightstand while Kisame and Itachi went down to the bar on the first floor to get something to eat. When they came back I was not uncuffed or removed from the floor. In fact, I was to sleep there while Kisame slept on the couch, the lower halves of his legs hanging off the side, and Itachi slept in the bed.

I rested my head against the hard wood of the nightstand, and flinched as Kisame went into another round of loud snoring. It was so weird how different the two of them were. Kisame was boisterous and talkative, while Itachi was calmer and silent. They balanced pretty well from the little parts of their personality I had seen. Kisame had talked to me a little, nothing that was really nice or mean, just small comments. It was a bit refreshing from Kakuzu and Hidan's arguments.

But, the hospitality was not. At least with Hidan and Kakuzu, I wasn't chained _to_ something. And I didn't sleep on the floor with them either. I couldn't tell who was more fare about food, but I would probably find out on the trip to the Akatsuki base.

Morning came, and I didn't get a wink of sleep. I was hungry again, and I could hardly get up after Itachi uncuffed me from the stand. He straightened me on my feet, giving me a cold stare before walking away. I stretched, and winced at the disgusting feeling rolling off me. I probably smelled, and looked, horrible.

Kisame watched me with a blank face, before he pointed over my shoulder, "Bathroom's in there. Itachi and I are going to get breakfast. Don't do anything stupid or you'll regret it."

Spirits slightly lifted, I went into the bathroom and started up the shower. Getting the dirt, grime, blood, and sweat off of me felt wonderful. I stayed in the shower until the water started turning icy, and then I exited with a towel wrapped around my waist. I was both angered and thankful for the new set of clothes on the counter. Angry because it meant one of them had come into the room while I was in the shower, and happy because changing back into my old clothes would've just defeated the purpose of showering.

Thankful for the dark color of the shower curtain, I started dressing. It was a simple outfit. Black shorts that were two sizes two big and reached down to a few inches below my knees, a long sleeved fish net shirt, and a short sleeved dark green shirt, which was also a bit big for me.

I put on my shoes and exited the bathroom, finding myself face-to-face with a simple plate of eggs. I reached up and took the plate from Kisame, not bothering to thank him I sat down and swallowed down my breakfast. It resembled cardboard, in taste and in looks, but it was substance that would calm my rumbling stomach.

Once I was done, Itachi and Kisame started to move. We left the hotel and were soon a few miles away from the village, the sun beating down on us. Kisame and Itachi were lucky to have the hats with shaders, but I couldn't see how they could stand to where such heavy looking cloaks in the heat.

As we got closer to what I assumed was our destination, the sun was swallowed by dark clouds. The sky was painted grey. and it began to rain heavily. I almost longed to have on of those baggy clothes when it had started raining like it did, the wind and the cold mixing together as one. As a shape began to form along the horizon, Kisame and Itachi turned to me.

"Have a nice nap, Pinky," Kisame's gruff voice said over the sound of the wind and my teeth chattering.

I could hardly get out a stutter, before Itachi disapeared. I felt his chakra reappear jsut behind me, and felt his warm breath bloom heat across the back of my neck, before he swiftly hit the back of my neck. Everything darkened to black, and I felt my knees give out beneath me as the world fell around me.

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**Piper: Not a very exciting chapter. I'll try and get the next one to you soon; it should be more entertaining.**

**Please review!**


	3. Blind to Myself

**Piper: Hi guys! This should be a good chapter! Sorry, it's a little later then I had hoped for it to be. But, I was planning most of the story line so I needed to figure out how to construct this chapter to fit the future ones.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 3 - Blind to Myself

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**Sakura Haruno**

_"Do you know who you are?"_

My eyes looked up, clouded with sleep. Everything slowly began to awake inside me. My head bobbed once before I shook it, and tried to remember what was going on. I reached for a memory to tip me off about anything, and found my self reaching for nothing. There were no memories to remember. If there were, they were far from my reach.

_'Where am I? Who's talking to me? Who am I?'_

I looked up, and saw the outline of the person talking to me. Moonlight poured from the window on the other side of the room, and he stepping into it just enough for me to see the outlines of one half of his face and cloak. My eyes slid along the pale skin of his face, and the shining studs pierced into the skin there. There were three studs along the bridge of his nose, and a one of the two snake bites reflected the moons glow. His ears were pierced all along the side, in the lobe, and had a metal bar running right through it.

What caught my eye more was the spiky hair reflected the color of a bright, orange flame. But what really held my gaze still, were his eyes. They were a deep blue-gray, with a very light hint of purple. The color was highlight by the rings that stretched from his pupil, out to the ends of his eyes color. The whites of his eyes were not ringed like middle, but the color of them seemed enhanced by the unbeatable puzzle in the middle.

I managed to break myself from his stare, and looked at the pattern on his cloak. My face scrunched up at the red lined, white cloud pattern, and I felt a memory ghosting within reach. I tried to reach it, but every time I did there was a terrible pain in my head. The pain was so cold it burned like fire, and spread from my forehead to my temples, and down to the back of my neck. The back of my neck hurt the most out of all places that burned. It was painful enough for me to let the memory go.

As soon as I did, my pain was eased and I felt dizzy from the sudden change. It felt like I was floating for a few moments, before I focused back on the man. He had started to talk again.

"You are Sakura," He stated, and my mind felt lighter knowing my name.

Sakura. Sa-ku-ra. I tasted the name in my head, and found a sense of familiarity at my little taste-test.

"We erased your memories, Sakura," He said lowly, and began walking forward.

My head snapped up, and I frowned at the man as he approached. I leaned slightly in my chair, and gripped the sides of my seat unhappily. I opened my mouth, and the dry sensation in the back of my throat only allowed me to whisper, "Why?"

He stopped a couple of feet away, his whole body creating a curtain of darkness that was shielding the moon light from my view, "We are going to try and rebuild your memory back, fully. Piece by piece it should all slowly come back to you." He mumbling something under his breath that I wasn't supposed to catch, but was able to make out as, _"You were so young when it happened..."_

I tilted my head, confused. He snapped back to reality, and looked at me calmly, "My name is Pein. You are here with the Akatsuki. We will train you to your full extent that was never reached."

The word 'Akatsuki' brought another ghost of a memory, but I pushed it away in fear of the ice-hot pain once more. Pein put a hand on my head, and said quietly, "Come with me."

I stood from my chair, and followed Pein from the dark room. We were met with a brightly lit hallway, and I had to blink at the sudden change of lighting. Pein led me down the corridor silently, taking us around many turns before we finally reached our destination. He opened the door and behind it was a large kitchen on one side, and transformed into a living room on the other half.

There, sitting around the dinner table, were nine men, all who stopped talking at our entrance. They looked at us curiously, and I moved my self more behind Pein. Pein took a side step, exposing me to their eyes, and began to speak, "This is Sakura. She is the newest member of Akatsuki."

"What the hell? That's why we kidnapped the bitch?" A silver haired man yelled, standing up so quick that his chair fell over.

Anger swelled in my stomach, and I tried to put a lid on it so that I wouldn't make the situation worse. Kidnap? They kidnapped me? They took me from where I had rightfully belonged and erased my memories of my whole life?

"Hidan," Pein said, his tone alike one used to explain the weather in a cardboard manner, "Sit down."

A dark haired man pulled at Hidan's arm with a death glare. Hidan pulled his chair back up into a sitting position and sat down, mumbling curses under his breath. I glared at him slightly, before turning to Pein. He was looking at the men at the table. He made a short gesture and said, "She will be staying in my wing of the base. Don't do anything stupid."

With that, he left the room with me standing in the middle of the room. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Was I supposed to follow him, or stay here?

"Hey, pinky, yeah!" A long, blond haired man waved me over to the table.

There was a silence as he leaned closer. I blinked as we soon we were only inches apart, and he asked seriously, "Do you know how to cook, yeah?"

I blinked, and the man was pulled back by the collar of his cloak forcefully by a red haired man, who spat at him once he had stumbled into his seat, "Brat, she just got her memory erased, what do you think?"

The blond whined at him, while I thought to myself silently. I scrunched my face up in thought, and I thought about different foods. I couldn't remember my past, but everything else seemed free for me to sort through. I tried to remember cooking any of the dishes that came to mind, and a few recipes came to mind. It eased some weight on my shoulders, being able to remember something.

I looked over my shoulder, at the kitchen. I turned and walked around the island in the middle of the cooking area, and peered into the fridge. The men at the table watched curiously as I scraped up some ingredients from the almost empty fridge. I managed to pick out some bowls and other utensils from the almost equally empty cupboards.

One man had gotten up from his chair, wriggling closer to my cooking area to see what I was doing. I turned around, and suddenly found myself face-to-mask with the practically vibrating man, who seemed to be restraining himself from something. I tilted my head at him in a silent question, and he sprang forward suddenly. He wrapped his arms around my middle, and spun me in the air with an excited noise.

"Pretty Saku is cute!" He gushed, still twirling around with me pressed against him awkwardly.

"Oi, retard! Let the bitch finish fucking cooking before you rape her!" Hidan, the silver haired man from before, yelled angrily at the man who was now hugging me protectively against his chest as if the silver haired men was about to come an hurt _me_, even though he was the one being screamed at.

The man behind the mask gasped, and said in a voice that didn't seem to fit his structure, "Tobi would never do that to Saku!"

The blond from before growled in annoyance, and stood up. He stomped across the room and around the island, seizing the man by the collar. The man, Tobi I believe he called himself, whined at the blond before he was forcefully ripped from my person and thrown across the room. He hit the wall, shaking the room, and slid down to the floor. I blinked, and moved to help before Tobi popped right up, complaining about 'Deidara-sempai being mean'. I was guessing Deidara-sempai was the blond, who was once again sitting in his chair at the table.

Glancing once more to see if Tobi was truly all right, I turned back to my food and continued preparing. As food began to cook, the men at the table started looking more interested as the smell of the food began to hit their noses. Before, they had been talking steadily, but their conversations had fizzled to nothing as they watched me cook.

Finally, I was finished. I looked at the meal I had managed to make, and smiled slightly. Normal ramen, with a nice side of rice. It smelled quite good, seeing what I had to work with to cook. Tobi scampered over to help me pass it out, and I couldn't help but smile when I saw him slipping samples underneath his mask as he did so.

Everyone dug in once a plate was in front of their face, and I settled my self in between Tobi and Deidara, because I only knew their names out of all the people sitting at the table. Conversation flickered on, and the social people were once again speaking while enjoying their food. I looked down at my food, and ate silently.

Only a few minutes into the meal, Pein once again entered the room. It got quiet as he surveyed the room, and I stood up quickly, "Are you hungry?" I asked, moving towards the spare plate I had fixed just in case, "The food should still be warm."

I held a plate out to him, and he looked at me. I found my self getting lost into his ringed eyes, and blinked once to pull myself out. He reached out and took the plate from me, moving for the head of the table. I took my seat between Tobi and Deidara, and once Pein had been seated conversation came alive once more.

It was easy to learn names from their calls across the table, and soon I was able to figure out a small sample of everyone's personality along with their names. Pein, however, I wasn't able to figure out much about him. He didn't talk much, and usually kept himself out of most conversations. He did, however, start talking to Itachi once during the meal.

Itachi. He seemed so familiar to me that a memory was practically forcing its self upon me, and my head and neck began to burn once again. I tried to force the memory away, but it kept pushing its way forward. I tilted my head down so that my hair would cover my face, and I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to add power to my mental force.

"Sakura."

My head snapped up, and the memory fluttered off like an angry bee, its imprint of pain like the buzzing of said bee. The whole table was looking at me, all talking ceased. I blinked at Pein, who had said my name, and said in what would be something like a catch phrase for me in the future, "I'm fine."

* * *

**Piper: Done! Hope you liked!**

**Okay, guys. We need to start working on a pairing.**

**Tell me in your review who Sakura (Age: 16) should be with out of these choices:**

Pein

Tobi/Madara

Itachi

Hidan

Kakuzu

Sasori

**Please review and tell me how I did!**


	4. Medic

**Piper: Sorry, I would've updated on Friday if I hadn't had friends over. I'm going to make sure you guys know that I should update every weekend, unless I'm busy on Friday and Saturday, then I'll update on Sundays.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**WARNINGS: Gore, Cussing**

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Chapter 4 - Medic

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**Sakura Haruno**

My eyes snapped open, looking straight ahead and the white canopy above my head. A tear fell from the corner of my eye, trailing down the side of my face. I wiped the trail it left from my face, taking in soothing breaths to calm my rapid heart beat. I couldn't remember what caused my tears and fear, and the dream that filled me with so much terror had disappeared to nothing.

I moved into a sitting position, the dark blanket that had been covering me pooling around my middle like black water. The first sunlight of the day was radiating through my window. It made the room glow an almost golden. I could tell that it was early, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep with such terror running through me.

I moved my legs over the side of the bed, and a shiver danced through my bones at the cold touch of the floor to my toes. Lifting myself to my feet, I moved over to my dresser to pick out something to wear out of the few outfits I was provided with. I settled on a fish net shirt with a long sleeved black shirt over that, which was so big for my that it went down to my knees, and some shorts that just barely peaked out from beneath the long shorts. I slipped on some socks to put something thick and warm between my feet and the floor, and I was done.

The hallway was dimly lit and quiet, and I moved through it silently so that I didn't disturb anyone. After being lost for a few moments, wandering around the hallways for the kitchen, I made it to my destination.

Opening the fridge, I peered in to see if there was any way I could cook a decent breakfast. Finding some eggs hidden underneath something that looked like a slightly decayed human arm, I began to cook. It was a simple egg meal, scrambled. I couldn't really cook anything fancy, because of the severe lack of a bountifully filled fridge.

The smell of food must awakened some senses, because not long after my eggs had been cooking the Akatsuki slowly migrated from their beds to the kitchen. Even Pein moved into the kitchen, sitting at the head of the table like before. Tobi, like last night, was hanging near me eagerly. He helped me serve plate fulls of eggs to each member, until the both of us had our food and were able to sit down at the table.

"Sakura," Pein called over the clank of silverware, conversation, and hungry men.

I looked up at him curiously, and he spoke once again, "We will start training you today. We are going to try and reawaken you skills and recreate them so that you can reach your full potential in battle."

"Full potential," I whispered, before speaking up, "Was I not at my full potential before?"

"No," Pein said, "You weren't. The people you were surrounded by weakened your emotions, and you didn't have the will to reach your full extent. You were very strong, yes, but you were not mentally or physically able to reach your full ability. The others around you progressed while you were not trained, and once you finally did start training your skills still did not reach their limit. Your inner turmoil at being surrounded by those who you felt were better then you stunted your growth in abilities. This was why we erased your memories, so that we could undo what others did to you."

I was frustrated at receiving all this information at once. I could hold it all, but it was hard forcing it to soak in with all of my memories gone. Was my life really like that? Was I so affected by how the people I knew grew so fast and strong, and I so slow? I didn't know. Finding my personality was as difficult as cupping water.

"Who is going to train me?" I asked, pulling up a small bite of eggs to my mouth.

Pein moved the small amount of eggs he had into a pile, scooping it onto his fork before he spoke, "All of us. You will practice a certain skill, for four hours each day until you are able to master it. Kakuzu will be teaching you today." That was the last he said, putting the last of his food into his mouth and rising from the table with his plate in hand. He placed it in the sink and left the room.

Once everyone was done, Tobi was ordered to do the dishes by Kakuzu, before said dark skinned man walked from the room with Hidan and I following close behind.

We traveled down some unfamiliar hallways for a solid five minutes, before we reached our destination. It looked to be a very abused medical room. There were rows of beds, most of which where unmade and moved around awkwardly. There were two examination tables, and a line of cabinets along one wall. They were not like the fridge, they were seemed stocked to fullest. But they looked dirty and unused. There was so much equipment. It was all very new, yet very under cleaned.

"We're going to try healing," Kakuzu grumbled, and motioned to the only clean area in the room. It was one of the examining tables, with a table of equipment that looked much cleaner then the rest of the room.

"Then why the hell am I fucking here?" Hidan yelled, and Kakuzu gave him a pointed look.

Realization flickered in his face, and Hidan shouted, "Oh, hell no! I'm not going to be your fucking test dummy!"

"To late," Kakuzu said, and quickly reached forward. He got his hands around Hidan's throat, and pulled.

A gasp choked up my throat, and never made it out of my mouth, as Kakuzu pulled Hidan's head from his body. I could her his bone snap at the sudden tear, and blood splattered around us. An much to my horror, Hidan's head began to yell at Kakuzu even louder then when it was connected to his body, "You son of a bitch! Put my fucking head back on!"

Kakuzu placed Hidan's head on the examination table, and lifted Hidan body onto it also. He looked at me, and said, "I want you to put some chakra into your hands. Channel it, and bend it to what we're here to do. The sooner we accomplish this the sooner I can go back to my regular schedule."

His explanation of how to do what he was asking didn't help at all. I raised my hands, and closed my eyes. I tuned out the arguement that Hidan's head and Kakuzu had fallen into. Something stirred as I began to concentrate. My chakra fluxed as I tried to channel it, and I could feel myself pulling it from the depths it sat in.

_"PUT MY DAMNED HEAD BACK ON!"_

I frowned, and felt my grasp over my chakra slip. I focused harder, and felt my concentration coming back as Hidan's voice fell away. Something surged through my veins, to my hands. I could feel it there. I could feel the warmth it gave, and slowly opened my eyes. A faint, green glow was shimmering around my hands. I could tell that it should've been brighter and stronger then it was, telling by the look on Kakuzu's face when I finally was able to move my chakra.

Reaching forward, I started lining up Hidan's head and hoped for the best.

* * *

"Times up," Kakuzu said dully, and got up from his bored position on one of the medical beds, "Be back here tomorrow at noon or I won't bother with you."

Hidan lurched up from his position on the table, and looked incredibly irritated. I would be, too, if I were him. After I was done with each heal, Kakuzu would tear Hidan's head off once more. If I made to big of a mistake while in the middle of healing, Kakuzu would interfere and rip Hidan's head off by the few pieces of flesh it hung by. Those were usually the flesh on inside of the neck, and it seemed like those would be the most tender to rip.

He rubbed his healed neck, which had a raw ring around it from all the ripping. He looked at me dully, and I smiled sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Hidan."

Hidan sighed thickly, and cracked his neck, "What the fuck ever." I figured that was his way of saying, "It's okay."

We both walked out of the room together, and traveled towards the kitchen**(1)**. It as silent most of the way, except for Hidan's grumbling about Kakuzu underneath his breath. We were getting close to the kitchen when I was suddenly attacked from behind. I made a sharp noise as a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into the air.

"Hello, Blossom!" The voice of Tobi came from my attacker, and I smiled slightly at him once he put me back down.

Hidan glared at him a little, looked a bit miffed at his presence.

"Hi, Tobi. What're you doing?" I asked, trying to break the awkward air.

"Tobi's looking for Senpai! Senpai suggested we play hide an seek, and Senpai is _very_ good at hiding when we play hide and seek!" Tobi nodded to put emphasis for his statement, and Hidan rolled his eyes before walking away. He muttering some curses under his breath, most of which I was sure were directed at Tobi.

I looked at Tobi, and, feeling bad because the others treat him so unfairly, asked, "Do you think I could go shopping, Tobi? I need to get some clothes and equipment. We also need to stock the fridge so that I can cook something other then rice and ramen."

Tobi pondered this for a few moments, before nodding, "Tobi is sure Leader would let Blossom go shopping if Blossom had someone go with her."

He looked at me pointedly, and I could imagine him giving me a puppy pout beneath his mask. Smiling slightly, I asked, "Would you like to go with me?"

In one swift movements, Tobi managed to hug me then gather me in his arms, running for the Leader's office. I blushed slightly, and found myself relieved when we got there at a record breaking time. Instead of knocking, which I found odd, Tobi bounced right in after setting me on my feet. He made sure to put his hand is mine, dragging me in with him. I stumbled a bit behind him, and looked nervously at Pein.

He was looking at the two of us with a annoyed face, and asked, "Yes?"

Tobi was practically vibrating with excitement, "Tobi wants to know if Tobi and Blossom can have some money to go shopping for food and clothes for Blossom!"

Pein looked at the two of us, before nodding. He opened a drawr in his desk and pulled out a pouch of money. He handed to him, and I said my thanks before Tobi pulled me from the room. As we were making our way out of the base, we ran straight into Deidara and Sasori.

"Oo, oo, Tobi found you Senpai!" Tobi pointed out as he drug us past them. Deidara caught my other hand as we moved by, and pulled the both of us back.

"Where are you two going, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"Leader said that Tobi can take Blossom shopping!" Tobi said in a slightly different tone, and something told me that he wanted to leave badly. It was probably because someone of his excited nature got easily bored being cooped up in the base for so long.

Deidara narrowed his eyes, "You, yeah?"

Tobi nodded almost impatiently, and I looked between him and Deidara with a slightly uneasy feeling. Sasori just stood back, watching silently. He looked impatient and annoyed, and snapped as Deidara opened his mouth again, "Deidara, you know I don't like waiting. We have to give Leader our last report, it's due today."

Deidara, with his eyes still narrowed, said, "You go ahead, Danna. I'm going to go with the idiot to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, yeah."

Sasori shrugged and left quickly, looking a bit more eased now that his life could move on from this little pause.

Tobi hesitated, before taking my hand again and started pulling me towards the exit once again. Deidara followed, and I wondered what exactly I had gotten myself into.

* * *

**Piper: Next chapter, shopping with Deidara and Tobi!**

**Currently, Madara is winning the pairing vote.**

**I'm still not sure about who will be paired with Sakura, and if you haven't already told me who you would like it to be then please do!**

**Please review!**


	5. Fighter

**Piper: Sorry, sorry! I had finals and I needed to study.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 5 - Fighter

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**Sakura Haruno**

Rain pelted from the heavens, but no one in the village seemed to care. Everyone walked around like it was the most normal thing, which it was from Deidara told me. The stores were open and lights glowed across the streets from their places inside each store. Even with the rain, the village was very much alive. Lights, villagers, and more. The villagers were all bundled up with thick layers to protect themselves from the rain, and I wished I had more then the pants and jacket I had been provided with.

Shivering once, I let Deidara lead us into a food store. Most of it was breads and vegetables, and Deidara told me he would take us to a few more stores so that we could get everything we needed. I filled a basket of the things I would need, and after paying we went to several other stores to make a nicely stocked fridge.

"This stuff is heavy, yeah," Deidara complained, and took each bag and set them on the ground. He took out a scroll and sealed the groceries within them, and smirked, "Much better, yeah."

Smiling, I looked around and asked curiously, "Where could I get some clothes?"

Tobi took my hand and pointed, "Oo, oo, Blossom! Tobi sees a store!" Then he proceeded to drag me down the wet street with a cursing Deidara following us close behind. Tobi stopped in front of the floor, looking through the window at everything inside. It was a kunoichi store, and had no men's clothing at all.

Deidara froze as Tobi went to follow me in, and jerked on the back of his cloak, "No way, you little pervert, yeah. We're going to stay out here."

Tobi whined, and I looked at them over my shoulder, "You sure? It's still raining. I know your probably used to it, but theres no use getting sick just because you had to wait for me out here." I looked around, and suggested, "Why don't I meet you guys at that weapon shop we saw a few streets down?"

Deidara nodded, and pulled Tobi with him as he walked back down the street. Tobi waved at my meekly, his heels skidding against the wet stone as Deidara drug him by the hem of his collar. I waved at him, watching the two with a raised eyebrow before the thick rain swallowed their shadows. I waited a bit longed, before turning and entering the shop.

"Hi," The girl behind the counter droned, not looking up from her nails.

I didn't reply, deciding not to distract her from picking the nonexistent filth from underneath her claws. I weaved through the clothing racks, occasionally pulling a piece of clothing from one and draping it over my arm. After a few solid minutes of looking, I turned to the girl behind the counter with both arms full, and asked, "Can I try some of this on?"

The girl looked at my arm full with surprised eyes, before stretching out a loud and unnecessary sigh and getting up from her stool. Her hips had an odd swivel when she walked, like she was trying too hard to get people to look at her bottom. She unlocked the changing rooms and quickly went back to her chair. I moved myself inside and put down my pile, locking the door before I started changing.

Almost all of the clothes fit me, some a little baggy but they worked. Before I paid and left, I through a nice cloak into the pile before purchasing. Even if I did end up getting on of the Akatsuki cloaks once I was trained, I could still wear this underneath to put some layers between me and the weather.

I sealed my things within a scrolls, sans the cloak. I put it on, and said a hollow good bye to the girl, who was still cleaning her nails, and stepped into the rain. I was immediately soaked, swallowed by the rain as it dived onto the street, and onto my short form. I didn't dare look up at the sky, in fear of getting pelted in the eye by a wild rain drop.

Deciding on taking some back roads, I made my way towards the weapon shop. It was a little ways away, seeing as we had passed it when we had first gotten into the village. Pulling my cloak around me a bit tighter, I moved down an ally way to try and get there a little faster. It was freezing, the rain accompanied by a fierce wind. I was having trouble keeping my hood up, the wind tearing it from my head every chance it got so that rain would pelt into my face.

Sighing tiredly, I yanked my hood up once more as it was ripped from my head. I was getting closer to the weapon store, I could tell because at a far off distance I could feel a little bit of both Deidara and Tobi's chakra. I passed a few ninja standing under a door overhead to a bar, all of them chatting loudly and laughing like maniacs.

"Hey, beautiful!" One slurred as my hood flew off once more, and my head twitched towards the man, "You want to come over and join us?"

A cold feeling was stirring in my gut, and I faced forward and continued walking. They called after me, and I quickly turned down an ally way, trying to get away from the echoes of their callings and whistles. For a moment, I thought they hadn't moved from their spots underneath the door, but I was wrong. It was to dark to see their shadows following me, but I could hear their foot steps a few feet back. I could tell they were ninja, because even with what seemed to be a large dose of alcohol in their systems, they were light and quick of their feet.

One lurched forward, and I spun around as his hand pulled down my hood. He whistled lowly, making his friends chuckle. He continued forward, and the smell of his breath entered my nose as he spoke, "Got our selves a looker, eh?"

"Get away from me!" I shouted, slapping away his hand as he reached out to pet my damp hair.

"Oooo," His friend chorused, and the man's scarred face twisted into a disgusting smirk, the warmth of alcohol dancing in his dark eyes.

His hand shot forward, and his nails dug into my roots as he grabbed my hair. A scream came up my throat, but didn't come out as his other hand came around my throat and squeezed. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I tried desperately to move away as the man lowered his head to my head. His breath hit my ear, and I shivered in fear.

"Just stay still, will you?" He breath, and removed his hand from my hair. His hand reached down, and got close to an area I didn't want him anywhere around.

Something surged through my veins, and my fingers twitched. I could feel it running through me, and my anger took over my fear as the man's hand touched me. I clenched a fist, and grit my teeth, before pulling back my arm and slinging it forward, _"Get off me!"_ My knuckles smashed against his nose, and I heard several sickening cracks. One being his nose, snapping, and the others were my fingers popping at the force of the hit.

I almost expected nothing to happen, but so much more did. The man flew back, and crashed through the building on the other side of the alleyway. There was a scream from people inside the building as the man flew through the wall and skidding along the floor, breaking everything in his path as he went.

The guys friends looked at me in shock, before one growled angrily, "You little bitch!"

He moved forward, and my eyes flickered. I darted forward, and when I got close enough I brought up my leg. He blocked it, grabbing my foot in one hand. I jumped with my free foot and swung a fist, his other hand barely stopping it from hitting his eye. I smirked and threw my weight over him, making him let go. Just as he spun around to face me, I whipped my foot across his face and sent him flying out of the alleyway, into the street.

People were coming out of buildings, into the rain, to see what the commotion was.

Just as I was turning towards the rest of his friends, one threw a fist that knocked me back. I skidded to a stop a few feet away from the man I had kicked, and looked at my attackers with a fierce fire in my eyes. Anger swelled in my stomach, and I felt murderous. These men were sick enough to have their way with a woman, and I wanted nothing more then to crush them to dust with my bare hands. But I never got the chance.

"Blossom!" Strong arms wrapped around me just as I was about to go forward, and I snapped my eyes up to the face of my holder.

Tobi's mask looked down at me, and my inner fire slowly extinguished. Tobi gave me a small squeeze and I shivered. I was tired, and the thought of what could've happened if I hadn't retaliated to the man was heavy on my thoughts. I wanted to cry, but I refused to let the tears fall. I wanted to keep the strength that had powered me to fight back, but it had slipped away like smoke through my fingers.

_'Nothing happened,'_ I thought to myself, _'I shouldn't be this upset.'_

"Sakura."

I looked forward, and saw Deidara standing in front of me. I couldn't see his face, he was standing in front of me. His voice was darker then usual, and I saw his arm quiver once as he asked, "Did these guys touch you, yeah?"

He looked over his shoulder, his single eye piercing mine. I didn't answer, I honestly didn't remember how to speak at the moment. All words were clogged in my throat, and my tongue was as heavy as metal. He must have found an answer in my silence, and turned back towards the men in the alleyway. I looked at them over my shoulder, and saw them staring at the clouds on the cloaks Deidara and Tobi wore in paralyzing fear.

"W-we didn't know!" One stuttered, "We h-had no idea she belong with the Akatsuki!"

Deidara cracked his knuckles, "To late for that, yeah."

* * *

We entered the base in silence, a more comfortable silence then one would expect. Tobi took the scrolls with our shopping bags in them and said he would take them to the kitchen, while Deidara led me to Pein's office. I looked at Deidara from the corner of my eyes, and saw that he still seemed really angry. I looked towards the floor as we walked, and as we were almost there Deidara looked more calm then before.

He rapped his knuckles against the door, "Leader?"

"Enter," Pein's voice said dully, and I suspected he was working on paper work.

My suspicion was proved correct upon entering, and he looked up at the two of us. His eyes lingered on my, before he looked up at Deidara, "What is it?"

"Sakura was attacked by some perverts in the village, yeah," Deidara stated, a flash of anger crossing his face once more.

Pein raised an eyebrow, and the light in his eyes shifted, "I assume you took care of it, Deidara?"

Deidara nodded, "I didn't kill them, though, yeah. It was in public, and many people were watching." His eyes slid towards me for a split second, before he looked back at Pein.

"Is that all?" Pein asked, his voice a bit tighter.

Deidara shook his head, and smirked a bit, "Sakura put up quite the fight, yeah. She was able to disable their ring leader, and another one of their little group, yeah. Tobi and I only came running because we felt Sakura's chakra flare up to a level that didn't sit right with us, yeah."

Pein looked at me, and asked, "Is that true?"

I nodded, "Yeah...I... I punched the guy who tried to touch me in the face..."

Deidara, despite in the presence of the Leader, laughed, "I think she shattered the whole middle section of his skull, yeah! He's luck if he lives."

A sick feeling entered my stomach at the thought. Had I really killed a man with once punch? What if he had a wife, or kids? Even if he was a drunkard, he obviously had a life outside of the bar. He just made the wrong choice on the wrong person. Could I really have stripped a man of his life?

Pein noticed the look on my face, and said sternly, "Sakura. Do not feel anything for that man's life. What he tried to do to you, from my guessing, was foul. He's lucky that he didn't get to go through with the act, or I'm sure he would've went through something much more painful then death at the hands of the Akatsuki."

Despite the sickness of it, it made me feel a bit better about whether I had killed the man or not.

Pein sat up, and said, "We'll try practicing your strength tomorrow, to see if we can bring it out before your memory of the ability has completely vanished.

I nodded, feeling as though I had already lost said ability. Deidara and I left Pein's office, and started walking towards the kitchen. I looked at Deidara once more from the corner of my eyes, and said softly, "Deidara?"

He looked at me, "What, yeah?"

Smiling, I said, "Thank you."

**No Point of View**

It was night time, and everything was silent except for the sound of rain against the roof tops and stone streets. A dark figure darted across the rooftop, engulfed in the shadows of the night. With the moon hidden by the clouds, the man was able to travel without any worry of anyone seeing him. He took inhuman leaps across each roof, with the silky moves of a cat and the strength of a tiger. Only one of great power could move like he did, well, he and his companion.

Another dark figure traveled next to him, matching his movements like a mirror. The two suddenly lunged over the side of one building, landing across the street in a graceful crouch. They both looked up at the sign to the building, and upon reading it one would see that it was the Amegakure hospital.

Both figure moved like silk, standing smoothly from their crouching positions. They glanced at one another, before moving into the building. The red cloud patterns on their cloaks waved like water, the lights from inside the building lighting up their surface.

The figures entered, and the medical kunoichi at the desk looked up at them, and her eyes widened. She swallowed heavily, and said quietly, "We wondered when the Akatsuki would come. After hearing that those men messed with a girl belonging with the Akatsuki, we suspected that there would be nothing we could do to save them from what would come.."

One figure held out a hand, and the nurse shakily put a clip board into his waiting palm. He pulled the clipboard closer and looked over the list to find who they were looking for, his bright eyes peaking from the shadows of his cloak collar and hat. He handed the clip board back, and the woman jerkily bowed, "We will clean up afterwards, you do not need to worry about that."

The two nodded, and suddenly disapeared. The woman released the breaths she had held back, her heart rate slowly going back to normal.

As the men reached the floor of their victims, they looked at each other. One reached up, and pulled something from his face. Sharingan clashed with Rinnegan, and the blood bath commenced.

* * *

**Piper: Woo! Epicness! I really liked this chapter, even though it was late.**

**All right, about the poll. Madara wins, people, so Sakura will end up with him. But I have another question.**

**Would you like their to be hints of other relationships, kind of like how some of it went in this chapter? No love triangles, but just little hints here in there like I tried to do in this chapter? Or would you just like full on Mada/Saku, no hinting at all(I'll try my best to not to)?**

**Please review, tell me what you think!**


	6. Piece

**Piper: I hope all of you had a good Holiday!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 6 - Piece

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**Sakura Haruno**

When Pein said that we would be training my strength, I didn't actually expect it to be Pein who would do the job. We stood in a clearing, the sun barely peaking out from behind the clouds to shine light down on us. Pein pulled off his cloak, wearing a tight short sleeve shirt. It was easy to see his figure beneath the material, and his muscles rippled as he moved to hang his cloak over a low tree branch.

I took off my jacket, the very one I had bought the other day, and followed his example by hanging it over a tree branch. We turned to face each other, and started to circle each other. Pein told me before we got to the clearing that he didn't want to give me any fighting advice at first, to test how well I would be able to do on my own.

For a few seconds, I was firmly locked onto him before he suddenly moved and disappeared. My heart jumped, and I twisted around. He was moving fast, I could hear the grass sway and crunch from his swift moves. I could feel him around me, and the rush of air would hit me as he once again darted out of my sight. Just as I was able to start seeing his outline before he moved, he struck.

His fist came flying from behind, and grazed my shoulder as I twisted in a sloppy dodge. His leg swept out, and struck the back of my knees. My legs flew out from beneath me and I landed painfully on my tail bone at his feet, my brain spinning around inside my skull. My veins felt like they were pumping air instead of blood, I was so dizzy.

Pein held out a hand, and I took it after a short wait. He slowly pulled me to my feet so that I wouldn't get dizzy again. I took in a breath, and nodded at him. We jumped away from each other, and started circling once again. Deciding I didn't want to get taken so easily like that once again, I made the first move.

I pounced forward, and sung a fist. He blocked with his arm, and I swung out a foot towards his head. His other hand shot up and caught my heel, while I pulled my free hand around and brought it towards his temple. Just as it was about to hit, he disappeared. Landing on the ground in a crouch, I looked around as he once again began to move swiftly around me. It was harder to catch him this time, and I realized he was hardly going as fast as he could.

Bounding forward, I ran away from him and towards the clearing edge. He skirted around my movements, catching up easily. I moved my foot as I got close to a tree, preparing to kick off. But something happened, and instead of kicking off I kept going. Chakra pumped through my legs and into my feet, keeping me attached to the tree as I sprinted up it's trunk. Pein was close by, I could feel it, and he shot after me when I kicked off the tree and into the air.

He swung a fist, and it smashed into my stomach. I heard something crack, and knew he had broken a rib or two of mine. I threw out my foot as he swung again, and caught the edge of his stomach in his graceful dodge. Happy at actually hitting him once, I let my guard down and suddenly found myself crashing into the dirt from Pein's fist.

Dust flew around me, and I knew my impact had made a crater. I painfully lifted myself from the ground, and ran towards Pein's chakra signature. He stood still, his ringed eyes watching my movements. I readied a fist, when suddenly it happened again. I could feel my chakra moving towards my fist, and this time I willed it to build up. I pumped more and more chakra to my fist, and swung.

Pein dodged, and my fist collided with the tree behind him. There was a loud crack, and splinters of wood rained around me. There was a loud groan, and suddenly everything was going dark. The tree was falling. My eyes widened as he began to lurch over me, it's shadow swallowing me in its growth as the tree tilted more and more.

I flinched, curling into myself as I could feel the tree begin to rush down towards me. My feet were frozen to the ground, fear icing my veins so thickly that I couldn't move. Just as I could hear it get closer, there was a loud _'thunk' _and suddenly everything stopped. My eyes opened in surprised, and I slowly looked up.

The tree was a couple feet above me, and I looked over my shoulder. Pein, one hand out, was holding the tree up with his palm as if it were the lightest thing. He lifted his other hand, and threw the tree aside. It crashed into the earth, and then lay still. I looked at him, panting for air now that I could breath again. In all the fear my lungs seemed to have stopped taking in air, and now I was trying to catch up on the lost breathing.

"I'm not done," I breathed, and Pein lifted a fine eyebrow.

Taking a stance, I waited for him to copy my movements before I shot forward.

* * *

When Pein called training done, I was sore all over and he hardly had any injuries. Pein steadied me when I was about to fall over, and looked into my eyes, piercing my soul, and suggested smoothly, "Why don't you try to heal yourself?"

Just the thought of trying made my wounds ache a little. I ignored it, however, because Pein was waiting. I summoned a bit of my chakra and laced it into my hands. I kept a peaceful mind, and watched as they slowly began to glow softly. I ran my right hand over my left arm, and my left hand over my right arm. I could feel my tight and strained muscles relax at the soothing power. But that was as far as I got as the light flickered, and I found myself unable to bring it back.

I sighed heavily, and Pein put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him, and he made sure that he caught my eyes once more, "Don't be so hard on yourself. You did well for your level." And then he pulled his cloak off the tree it was hanging on, swiftly pulling it on his body and zipping it closed.

Putting my own jacket on, I followed him from the destroyed clearing and towards the base. We were greeted with a very messy kitchen once we got there, and in the middle of it all were Hidan, Deidara, Kisame, and Tobi. They were all covered in flour, head to toe. Tobi saw me and ran for me. He wrapped his arms around me, coating me in flour and causing a little cloud of flour to poof off him from his impact to my person.

"Blossom! Tobi missed you!" I hid a wince as he hugged me, my back particularly sore.

"Hello Tobi," I said, "What were all of you trying to do?"

Deidara coughed, a bunch of flour coming out of his mouth, "We tried to cook, yeah. We were actually doing pretty good until Tobi decided to help." Deidara glared at said man, and Tobi hid behind me.

"Tobi was only trying to help, Blossom! Sempai even called Tobi a bad boy! Is Tobi a bad boy, Blossom?" Tobi asked, placing his head on my shoulder.

I looked at him, and told him, "No, you're not a bad boy, Tobi. Not if you were just trying to help," I turned and then I looked at the rest of them, "I'll make you some food if you clean this mess up. Deal?"

They nodded, and got to work on the cleaning. Pein looked at me, and asked, "Why are you cooking for them if you are tired?"

I shrugged, "It really doesn't matter. Cooking doesn't take that much out of me. Besides, I'm hungry, too."

Pein nodded, and turned to leave. He paused when I spoke, "I'll bring you some food to your office, okay?"

He waved a hand, and continued to on his way out. I took that as a sign that replied: "Okay."

Once the kitchen was de-floured, I got to cooking. Tobi was once again hovering over my shoulder, helping here and there. The others sat at the table, and more joined them soon. I served lunch and excused myself, taking both my plate and Pein's and leaving the room. I remembered the way to Pein's wing easily, since my room was located there. It was easy to find, but it was a bit harder to try and knock on the door with my hands full of the two plates. I used my elbow to knock, which wasn't the smartest, but it worked.

"Enter."

I had a bit of difficulty opening the door, but managed after a few seconds of balancing and sloppy twists on the door knob. Pein was looking at me, amusement in his striking eyes. I smiled, embarrassed, and crossed the room. His desk was pretty cluttered, so I handed him the plate instead of setting it down. I turned to leave and he spoke, "Where are you going?"

"Huh?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

He nodded towards my plate, and I smiled slightly, "I was going to eat with you so you wouldn't have to be alone, but you look busy so I thought that I'd leave to what ever it is you're doing."

Pein shook his head, and gestured to one of the chairs on the other side of his desk, "I will not be working while I'm eating."

I took the seat, and waited for Pein to take the first bite before I raised a bit of rice to my mouth. We ate in silence, but it was oddly comfortable. Just being in some one's company, with silence, was calming. When we both finished I said my good byes and took our plates to the kitchen. When I got there I saw Kisame slouched over the sink, grumbling.

I stood next to him, and smiled when he turned his head towards me, "Stuck with the dishes?"

He nodded, and I reached for the drying towel, "I'll help."

Kisame grinned, exposing his sharp teeth, "Thanks, kid."

Frowning, I replied, "I'm not a kid."

A chuckle rumbled in his chest at my tone, and he replied as he handed me a plate, "Maybe not, but you're short enough to be one."

I swatted him with my towel, annoyed, "I'm not short! You're just extremely tall!"

An arm suddenly came around my neck, holding me in place almost lazily, "Nah, bitch, you're short."

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Hidan smirking at me. Suddenly, he was pulled away from me by the throat, a few thin pieces of black thread doing the job. Hidan glared at Kakuzu, who looked at him with a bored expression. Hidan started yelling, his colorful language filling the room and killing the silence. I shook my head at the the two, and turned around.

"Ah!"

Tobi had slipped between me and the sink, and had been right in my face as I turned, "Oh! Tobi's sorry Blossom! Tobi didn't mean to scare Blossom!"

I placed a hand over my heart, and smiled a little, "It's okay, Tobi."

Tobi tilted his head at me, and slowly moved out of the way so that I could get to the sink and continue helping Kisame with the dishes. Deidara came strolling through the door at that moment, and when he saw me look he smiled at me. I looked into his blue eye long and hard, because something was coming to me. It got closer and closer, and I felt something fuzzy come to my head.

At first it didn't make sense, but then I realized that it was a name. Naruto. Deidara reminded me of someone named Naruto. They shared the same eyes. Now, I was left to wonder. Who was Naruto?

* * *

**Piper: A bit short... Like I said before, I hope you guys had an awesome Holiday!**

**Please review and tell me how I did!**


	7. Ebony

**Piper: Getting back into my school time was hard, lol.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 7 - Ebony

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**Sakura Haruno**

A flash of pink, and ocean blue eyes.

_"Mommy!"_

Clash of metal, the sound of two pieces being ground against each other furiously.

_"Konan, take her!"_

A feeling of being light as air, shaking arms around me. The wind blowing against me, accompanied by the sound of shivering leaves.

_"Pein!"_

Crimson. It was warm, and splattered on every surface it could reach. It was on me. I was covered in blood. I could taste it. It wasn't my own, I noticed, disgusted. My eyes felt hot, salty tears building up.

_"Shh, it's alright, it's alright..."_

Darkness tangled around me like smoky vines, submersing me in its depths. It was as hot as fire, and my skin was burning; melting. I could feel it seeping into my bones like acid, eating it away. I tried to scream, and my throat went raw even though nothing came from my mouth. I choked as darkness entered my mouth, still burning like fire but feeling like smoke or water pouring into my lungs. I couldn't breathe, and life was coming to end.

**No Point of View**

The night was still, letting those who needed it sleep peacefully in its quiet. Nothing stirred in the Akatsuki base, until it happened.

A scream ripped through the silence like the claws of a killer, causing all occupants of the base to awake in a start. All were brought to attention in a snap, the screaming still shredding the silence with its ice cold fear. Their chakra's were all creating a giant, invisible amount of power that fluxed like a giant ocean wave. All were spiked, reaching out to find the source of the scream. All found it was the chakra of their female comrade, whose chakra was shivering and expanding to it's full length like it was trying to fight something off.

Many shot from their beds, and out of their rooms. They were ready for any intruders, ready to fight any fight. Except for one they couldn't face. When most arrived at the female member's room, she was being held by the first one to reach her, and spoken to by the second. She was choking for air, shivering like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes were wide, and the pupils shrunk.

"Shh, Blossom," Tobi tried to stop the choking coming from her throat, holding the pinkette's shaking form carefully. Her fingers were clenched in his night shirt, gripping the fabric as if it were her only line to reality.

Pein sat on her other side, a hand on her shoulder.

"What the fuck happened?" Hidan asked, scratching his bare shoulder.

"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu spat, and the silver haired Jashinist looked at him defiantly, but did not speak.

A hand took her chin, and the contact of skin felt so much more calming then the burning threads of darkness that had held her. Pein lifted her head, making her meet his eyes, and asked her sternly, "Did you remember anything, Sakura?"

Her voice was a whisper as she spoke, seeming that her throat was to raw to speak any louder, "I did, for a moment."

Pein lifted an eyebrow, and she spoke again, "But something stuck."

He gave her shoulder a small squeeze, gently urging her to speak up, and she looked right into his mysteriously captivating ringed eyes and asked aloud, "Who's Konan?"

**Sakura Haruno**

Something much more noticeable then normal emotions moved in Pein's eyes, almost as if he was thinking of something and I could see it through his eyes like they were windows. Pein moved his head, looking sternly at the nightwear clad Akatsuki sternly.

"Everyone out," He said in his normal tone, and shifted his eyes towards Tobi. He said in a surprisingly strong tone towards someone as gentle and oblivious as Tobi, "Even you."

There was a shift behind Tobi's masks single eye hole, but it was gone as quick as it came and soon he and the rest of the Akatsuki were gone. Pein stood up and shut the door, before he began to work on pacing a hole in my floor. I watched him for a few seconds, studying his posture and attitude. It seemed as though he were trying to put something together.

Suddenly, Pein seemed to realize that I still existed and that he was in my room. He looked at me and then spoke, "Konan, was a friend of ours."

My attention perked, "Ours?"

He nodded shortly, and said in a slightly tired tone, "However, I cannot tell you. You have to find out most of this on your own or it could topple this whole thing and hurt you more then it could help you."

I bit my lip, looking at the floor. Then I looked back up, "I remembered something else yesterday after our training, while I was doing dishes."

Pein motioned for me to tell him, and I said curiously, "It was a name. Naruto. Was Naruto our friend, too?"

"No."

I frowned a bit at how quick he was to answer. It was odd, I thought that remembering the name so quick must've meant that it was because Naruto was someone close to me.

He looked at my face, and backtracked slightly, "...Naruto... was not my friend. He was your friend at one point in time."

So Naruto must have been close to me. Something like that, or I wouldn't have remembered him so quickly.

Pein sat down next to me on the bed, and it was silent for a few minutes. Slowly, he turned to look at me. I blinked once at him, and he asked me the question I wanted so badly to avoid, "Sakura, what exactly were you dreaming of?"

I looked down, unable to fight of the shiver of fear that electrocuted my bones. For a moment, I gathered my thoughts. It took a moment, for I hadn't quite remembered everything that went on. I tried to collect each bit of memory from my dream as possible, even the ones that left me feeling like I was drowning in a smoke so hot it was like a sting of ice. I looked at him from the side of my eyes, and I said quietly, "I was hearing voices... I heard a child, a little girl. She was...crying. Crying for her mother. There was a sound of metal hitting metal. That's when I heard someone yelling for that woman, Konan, to take the little girl. Then, suddenly I felt like I being carried. Almost like the wind was sweeping me off my feet. A different voice yelled for...for you," I said, and my eyes widened in remembrance. Someone screaming for Pein in my dream.

Pein motioned for me to continued, wanting to hear the whole thing before he spoke. I looked at the floor, and rubbed my socked toe against the slick wood floor, and began to speak once more, "Then... it was quiet. No sound, no movement. I felt I was just, sleeping soundly for a moment. Like I had woken up from my dream, but not from my sleep. Suddenly...something splattered. It hit me full force, like I just got swatted at by a large, dripping paint brush. I could taste blood. For a moment, I could only see, hear, or feel crimson, as odd as that sounds.

"I heard a new voice was speaking, trying to sooth someone or me...I can't tell, but I didn't want it. I didn't want that person anywhere near me... The last I remember of the dream was being swallowed whole by darkness, it burned so bad. I couldn't breath, and I could feel nothing but fire," Tears stung my eyes, and I quit talking in an effort to push them and all weak emotions back.

"That darkness was a seal," Pein said, making me look at him in shock.

"A...seal?" I asked.

He nodded, "It was made by-," He stopped himself, "Some people who didn't want you to remember your past. Everything you saw were a few pieces that leaked past the seal. When more tried pouring out of the cracks, the seal retaliated. That was the darkness. It was meant to discourage you from trying to find out what your past was, but I can tell that it is weakening. I can sense that it is a very powerful seal, and just the small memories coming back means that it is being broken down."

I frowned, and a bit of anger swelled in my stomach.

Pein looked towards the mirror in my bathroom, through the open doorway. He stood, and motioned for me to follow. He flicked on the light switch in my bathroom and turned me from the mirror, making me face the wall. A burst of shock went through me as he grabbed the hem on my shirt in the back and pulled it up the middle of my back.

"That's the seal," He said, nodding towards the mirror.

I had a hard time trying, but I managed to look over my shoulder at the mirror. There, on the middle of my back a square shaped design, looking as though it were printed there with crimson ink.

* * *

**Piper: Bits of the past are recovered!**

**Please Review!**


	8. Mighty

**Piper: Hello!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 8 - Mighty

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**Sakura Haruno**

The design on my back looked like it had been painted on my skin with blood that never dried. When it hit the light, it gave a metallic shine as though it were wet. It was a square, that didn't connect at the corners. Each side was a smooth wave, then a sudden small spike out at each end, all in a different direction which was why it didn't connect. A full circle was inside of that, with writing so small it was unreadable between the space between the square and the circle. In the center of that was an 'x', with the small writing around it almost every where, so small that almost looked like paper cuts.

"How long has that been there?" I asked softly, watching as light shifted on the seal like it was a flickering glow. It seemed as though that now that I knew it was there, it wanted me to know how strong it was.

It was warm on my back, warm from the chakra that had put it there. I could feel each design on it. Every part of it pulsed very lightly, the chakra from it flowing evenly.

"From when you were a young age. At first, when you were younger, I'm guessing that the seal was very visible because it needed a few of years to settle into your skin. It's showing now because it needs most of its power to focus on keeping the memories out, taking all the power away from cloaking its self," Pein explained.

"Why do you think it was visible when I was younger?" I asked, slowly turning away from the mirror and pulling my shirt back down.

Pein almost seemed amused as he though of the answer, "You hated dresses. You always did. Since the seal was visible, it was easier to keep it covered by making you were something like a dress so that it wouldn't flip up like a skirt. You wore a dress for the most part of your life, I'm guessing it was to keep the seal hidden."

My nose wrinkled at the thought of a dress and Pein's eyes flickered in amusement at my face, but that was it. Pein slowly exited the bathroom, and I followed. There was so much more I wanted to ask, to know. I wanted to know how he knew I didn't like dresses, and how he knew I had worn them most of my life. I couldn't even remember my friends, let alone what I wore each day back then. I needed to know why I had to forget, and what happened to me. But, he wouldn't tell me. I knew that he wouldn't.

"Good night, Sakura," Pein said coolly, not turning back to look at me as he headed for the door.

A shiver hit my spine as fear clawed at my insides, and my hand shot out. I grabbed his upper arm, and he stopped. For a moment, I couldn't think of what to say, before I found myself asking quietly, "Can you stay?"

Pein turned slightly, and I barely able to catch the side of his eye as he looked over her shoulder. I sputtered, flushing, and quickly tried to fix up what I had said, "N-Not like that, I mean... I-uh... Just till I fall asleep? I don't want be alone when I close my eyes."

The fear of the darkness was coating my stomach, making me feel I had swallowed a block of ice and it was floating around inside me. Pein slowly turned, placing his hand on my shoulder. He guided me over to my bed, pushing my slightly towards it. I mumbled my thanks to him, and crawled underneath the covers. I didn't close my eyes, watching as he sat down at the desk across from my bed. He folded one leg over the other, reclining back in the chair.

His eyes met mine, and they stayed locked onto mine until my eyelids fluttered closed. I heard him turn the light on the desk off, but he continued to sit like I had asked him. For a moment, it was too dark beneath my eye lids. There was no light, and it was getting a bit harder to breath as the ice cube in the pit of my stomach got bigger. Suddenly, everything was warm.

Pein stretched out his chakra, and even though it was still dark behind my eyes, it was light. I could feel the waves and fluxing of his powerful chakra in my brain, making everything feel soft and weak. It was numbing, the amount of chakra pooling over me. It was almost like a protective sheet, covering me thickly and fighting off any terror that had began to swell in me.

Sleep crept upon me easily, and I fell asleep in the protective wrapping of Pein's chakra.

**Pein**

I could hear her breath even out, and her chakra slowly curled into itself as she fell asleep. I expanded my chakra a little more, knowing that it was keeping her calm. Her chakra moved a little as she slept, and I felt it curl into mine. It was an odd feeling, your chakra almost mixing with another. But it was calming, and I found myself closing my eyes as I reclined back in her desk chair. Even though the chair itself wasn't very comfortable, my body was relaxed.

It was hard, keeping all these things from her. I didn't know exactly what to tell her, and what to keep to myself. I damned Konoha, it was all their fault that she forgot. They made the seal, and stole her memory of us, of her mother, father, Konan, and I.

My chakra tensed a little at my hardening thoughts, and her chakra expanded a little, pressing its self into mine almost like it was trying to clam me down. I almost wanted to chuckle at how she could still amuse me even when she was sleeping, but my thoughts were once again consumed in the past of what had happened to all of us.

I could remember Sakura's parents so easily, it hurt. The nicest people you could ever meet in a village so full of poverty and in the middle of a war. Sayuri and Ryota Haruno.

Sayuri was a short woman, about 5"3 or something around that height range, with skin so pale it could almost blend with snow. Her skin was smooth, because even though she was a kunoichi her medical skills allowed her to keep any scars from her features. She had a kind, heart shaped face. Her eyes a ocean blue so vibrant with blue color, it seemed unnatural. She had mid-back length hair in thick ringlettes, every hair the color of cherry blossoms. She was curvy and thin, and even though her muscles didn't show she packed quiet the punch.

Her specialties were her lightning jutsu and medical knowledge, and was a very strong kunoichi. When she wasn't on the battle field, and even then lots of times, she was the pure epitome of kindness. And her eyes showed it, practically shining with emotion no matter what.

Her husband, and team mate since their squad days, Ryota, was a tall man. He was at least 6"5, towering over his wife. His skin was almost as pale as his wife's. He had pitch black hair that reached above his shoulders in spikey layers, with apple green eyes that were always shining like they were laughing. He was thin, but was very muscular and very tall.

Ryota was extremely fast, and very strong. He knew a little elemental jutsu on the side, but most spoke with his fists and weapons while in the battle field. I remembered his favorite weapon, a dual bladed katana that was almost as tall as his wife, 5"2. He was a great man, and he always fought fair no matter what. He had a good heart, and knew how to protect those he cared for.

Konan and I had met the two fighting for our lives on the streets, a stall vendor's jounin son taking care of us for his father, because we had stolen from his stand none to cleverly. Ryota and Sayuri stopped the fight, and I remember watching in awe, as any young boy my age would, as Ryota sent the ninja back with a punch so forceful it almost hurt to watch as it hit the man in the gut.

Sayuri was checking over the both of us, and I could faintly remember the feeling of her warm medical chakra flowing within me, and the wonderful feelings of my wounds sealing up with the tenderness of a mother.

My eyes snapped open, and it was reaching morning outside. The sun was peaking over the horizon, and sending small rays through Sakura's curtains. I put my emotions in place easily, blocking myself from the world like I supposed to, as the leader of the most feared organization. My dreams of the past were lingering in my brain, marking it like a hot piece of metal being pressed into my thoughts. I got up stiffly, cursing myself for sleeping in the chair, and glanced towards the bed.

Sakura was curled on the bed, the blankets clenched in her fists and tucked under her chin. She looked so peaceful, and as I looked at her I could see the best mixture of Ryota and Sayuri. She looked like her mother in many ways, she had her heart shaped face, and was even beginning to mold into her mother's curves. She, however, showed a bit more muscle then her mother had. But her eyes, her eyes were an almost exact copy of her father's, accept with Sayuri's feminine touch.

I looked away, and slowly made my way from the room.

**Sakura Haruno**

My fist met the trunk of a tree, and to my sadness it only dented it. Sure, it was progress and I was learning how to control my chakra again, but I almost wished the spurts of power I would get sometimes that allowed me to break things in half with raw power and climb up trees with my feet.

I pulled back, and manipulated my chakra the best I could before releasing my fist. It hit the center of the tree, right in the dent, and shattered it. I frowned, swiftly dodging the collapsing tree. Two punches to snap a tree. It was better then the five I had started with at the beginning of the day, but it was getting harder and harder for me to make my chakra do what I wanted.

It was frustrating. I knew I was stronger then this, but I just couldn't reach my normal levels. In the midst of getting my mind erased, it must've taken a lot of basic training out of my body. Now, I had to work extra hard to get myself where I needed to be. I needed to be stronger then this, if I were to unlock my memories. If I wanted to face the darkness and break the seal, I would have to be stronger.

It's been about two weeks since my nightmare, but I've found that I haven't had any since then. Mostly because I didn't dream at all. Sometimes, I was afraid to close my eyes, but it was getting easier. Sometimes, I would wake up just to check if I was still breathing, almost like a jerk reaction to the nothingness in my mind while I slept.

I thought of the darkness, and frowned. It angered me that I was weak, even in my dreams. Angry that my dreams could suffocate me, and take the breath right out of me without any effort.

Breathing heavily, I quickly ate a pill that Kakuzu provided me with. I felt my chakra expand to it full potential once more, and I started to work again. My chakra fluxed, expanding all around me. It thickened the air, and I felt my hopes heighten as I pulled my fist up. I ran towards the tallest, thickest tree of the clearing. My feet were fast and light, and I found myself feeling proud that I had my speed back once more. After a few day-long sessions with Pein, my speed had began to improve at a faster rate then most of my skills. Pein said that gaining my speed would probably be the easiest of my powers to relearn, but it still made me happy that I was now able to keep up with him most of the time in our training.

Snapping from my proud thoughts, I pulled back my fist, and slammed my fist against the tree. Splinters exploded around me, and happiness swelled inside me. I stepped back to allow the large tree to hit the ground, and found myself almost vibrating with excitement and adrenaline. Power flowed through my veins, and suddenly a very strong feeling of deja-vu washed over me. A large grin broke out on my face.

I was learning. The strength I had before my memory left was returning, just like Pein said it would. He had told me during one of our training sessions that it wouldn't take long for me to reach the level I had been before, because my mind had already learned it once before. Even though I couldn't remember, it was coming back. To be honest, I hadn't believed him at the time. He was strong, and I lost so often that I thought I would never get strong. Now, I could bust trees apart with my bare hands and dodge almost all of Pein's attacks.

He was still holding back, though. I knew this, and it actually didn't anger me as much as it should've. Just by Pein's chakra, you could tell that he was very strong. Once I got to my normal level, and I was better at fighting, I would ask him to stop holding back as much. I wanted to be as strong as the Akatsuki, and I knew to get there I had to take steps.

"Holy shit, yeah," I heard from behind, and I spun around.

Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, and Kisame stood in the clearing. All of them looked at the trees I had fallen, scattered over all of the clearing. I blinked at them a little, almost feeling like a little kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar.

Deidara looked at the big tree, and smirked at me, "Looks like you're making progress, yeah."

Itachi moved towards one of the smaller trees still standing, and ran his hand over the bark, "Have you been putting the trees back together?"

I nodded, "Only the smaller ones. I've been melding them with medical chakra. It helped me train a little bit in both areas."

Itachi nodded, and that was a lot coming from him. He didn't talk much, at least not to me.

I flushed a little, and asked them, "Why are you guys doing?"

"Pein asked us to come and make you stop training. He says you've been training all day, and we were coming back from a mission so he asked us," Kisame said, motioning to him and Itachi. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't noticed before that the two had been wearing their cloaks and Kisame had his sword swung over his back.

I looked at Deidara and Sasori. Deidara grinned, "I'm hungry, yeah."

Sasori stared blankly at his partner, "I merely followed because we had been in the middle of an argument when Deidara's stomach cut him off mid sentence. After that he came running to find you."

I blinked at them, and laughed a little. I brushed my clothes, watching as wood dust and splinters rained onto the ground. I looked up at them and smiled, "Alright, lets go. I'll make some food, and we-" I stopped suddenly.

They looked at me. Deidara spoke first, eyeing me closely, "Sakura, yeah?"

My head swayed, and I felt the effects of the pills slowly drain away. My chakra levels dropped dangerously fast, and I felt the ground disappear from under my feet. The world spun around me, and I felt gravity pull me down. My vision darkened, and the next thing I felt was Itachi pulling me into his arms.

* * *

**Piper: Okay, and I'm done. Sorry this one was shorterish, but we needed to get some stuff out of the way. Some Pein fluff in this, because it had to have some. (Just so none of you go 'eww he might be her brother', he's not. They aren't related in any way!**

**Please review!**


	9. Different

**Piper: Sorry, a bit late but I've been a little busy!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 9 - Different

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**Pein**

I stared down at the pinkette sleeping, sighing at her deep slumber. She had completely exhausted herself training, but even though lots of her chakra was lost it was slowly beginning to rebuild itself. It was like water filling a room, the way her chakra began to steadily rise as it replenished itself with her relaxing sleep.

Just as I was about to leave, I felt her chakra pulse. Turning slightly, I found myself staring into what most would consider completely amazing. Sakura's body glowed lightly with the power of a great medical ninja, all wounds sealing up with the chakra recreating cells and sealing up busted blood vessels and washing away the bruises that came with it.

She stirred lightly in her sleep, her face smoothing out to a more peaceful expression. I reached out with my chakra, and found that this process was hardly taking any of her building chakra. It was almost like her chakra was water, going up a few good inches from the floor, and she was taking small cups of it to use for herself.

I waited until her chakra began to settle, and suddenly the room was normal. I turned back towards the door, and spoke to Deidara, who was waiting outside the room, "Tell her to come see me when she finally wakes up. Get some food into her before she arrives."

He nodded to me, and I continued my travel to my office.

**Sakura Haruno**

When I began to wake up, the first thing I was able to see was a familiar blue color looking down at me, framed by blond hair. For a moment, my mind thought of that name once more. Naruto. I blinked at the colors, and suddenly I could hear a voice that was so painfully familiar, yet I was still unable to remember.

_"Come on, Sakura!"_

I blinked, "What?"

Deidara blinked his single eye back at me, "I didn't say anything, yeah."

"Oh," I said quietly, and began to sit up. I looked around the familiar surrounding of my room, and looked at Deidara, "How long have I been out?"

Deidara shrugged a little, "Two days or so, yeah."

I wanted to hit myself. I had been so careless in my training that I managed to knock myself out for two days. I moved around a bit, checking for anything injured. To my surprise, I was perfectly fine. Not a bruise or even a pulled muscle in sight, which confused me greatly. I do remember bruising my hands badly while training, but now the skin on my hands were back to their normal pale color. It didn't make any sense that I was perfectly fine, unless someone had healed me while I was out. I chose to go with that.

"Leader wants to see you after you eat some breakfast, yeah," Deidara pointed out, looking a bit hopeful.

I laughed, and hit him lightly on the shoulder, "You're hungry also, I bet? I'll just make something for everyone before heading to Leader's office."

After I washed up and changed, I met Deidara in the kitchen. He watched me cook breakfast, the smell filling the kitchen. It was just some simple bacon and eggs, but it sure did bring the Akatsuki alive. The kitchen was suddenly crowded like it normally was when food was being cooked, everyone bringing their normal chatter with them.

"Hey!" I protested as Kisame snatched some bacon out of the frying pan.

He hissed as it burned and popped against his touch, but quickly gobbled it up like the heat was nothing. He sent me a toothy grin, one that I rolled my eyes at. He reached for another, and I smacked his hand with a wooden spoon I pulled from the drawer. He glared at me a little, and I smirked at him.

"It's done, so just wait and sit," I ordered, and he made sure to get the last say of the "argument" by giving my hair a hard ruffle.

I quickly ate some food, seeing that I had already been up for at least a half hour. It normally wouldn't take so long for me to cook, but I had to make large portions if I wanted to feed the Akatsuki. Most of them ate rather large portions, and there was plenty of them to feed so it took me slightly longer then normal.

Finally, I reached Pein's office and knocked. When I received the okay, I poked my head inside. Pein looked at me from his desk, and motioned me inside.

* * *

"I think that it's time you go on a mission."

This was a big surprise. Not only was I just recovering from chakra depletion, but I didn't know if I was ready myself. I was getting better at fighting, well, _trees_. Sure, I could destroy the ground and the trees with a single punch, but the ground and trees aren't normally moving targets. I wasn't very confident in my aim yet. Hell, I wasn't even sure I was fast enough yet. Even though my speed has been my strongest point so far, other ninja were just as fast as me and even faster. I still couldn't keep up fully with Pein, and the speed I was going at while trying to catch up with him was already a struggle.

Pein's eyes swept over my reaction, and said, "Unless you are that unsure of your self..."

My shoulders straightened, and I quickly tried to cover up the doubt I had in myself, "I'll do it!"

He nodded, digging through one of the many stacks of paper on his cluttered desk. I watched, slightly amused, as he sighed in irritation. He shifted through several different piles, and I bit back a laugh. Finally, he produced a tan colored folder with a slight look of relief that he didn't have to search more into his disaster of a desk.

He handed the file to me, and spoke again, "You will be going on this mission with Zetsu."

Zetsu, the two-persona cannibal of the Akatsuki. I honestly hadn't gotten to know Zetsu very well. I knew he was here, because Pein told me of all the Akatsuki members, but he never came to the dinners I made because he obviously had his own selective diet. At first, it was hard to stomach that he actually ate human being, but it didn't really bother me so much after a couple of days. Everyone in the Akatsuki have their own ways of being different, why was Zetsu any different just because of his diet?

I ran my hand over the smooth cover of the folder, "Okay. Any idea of where I can find him?" I asked.

Pein nodded, "Try the garden."

Nodding, I left his study with the folder open in my hands. We had to spy on and eliminate a man who was increasing his fame by leaking out tidbits of the Akatsuki, whether they were true or not. We needed to see if the information he was leaking were just made up stories, or if he was getting facts of the Akatsuki from some unknown source that we would need to exterminate as quickly as we could.

_'I wonder why he wants me to go with Zetsu on this mission,'_ I thought to my self._ 'It doesn't really make sense...'_

When I got to the garden, I opened the door and poked my head inside. I looked around, before stepping into the different climate. I walked along the fresh green grass, and was surprised how well all the plants grew here. The garden was inside, because if they were actually outside all of them would be drowned with the thick rain. It was practically impossible for most plants to live in Amegakure unless they were inside and well taken care of.

I walked around a bit, admiring the fresh plants and brightly colored flowers while I looked for my fellow Akatsuki member. For a while I was pretty much distracted by the greenery to really think about much, but after so long I was beginning to get a bit frustrated that Zetsu was no were in sight. Along with that, I was pretty much lost in the middle of the forest like garden.

Leaning against a tall oak tree, I sighed. I couldn't find him, no matter were I looked. Just as I was about to try and find my way out of the garden, and arm wrapped around my middle.

I gasped in shock, and then confusion took over. I was...leaning on a tree. What tree had arms? I spun around, and choked.

Zetsu leaned out from the tree, one arm still around my middle. His golden eyes peered down at me, and I blinked once. My heart was still hammering in my heart from the scare, and the folder containing our mission had dropped to the ground with the papers inside scattered around.

"Why are **you here?**" Two separate voices emerged from the split man's lips, the seconds a bit more rough then the first.

It was almost like two people speaking from the same body, which furthered my curiosity of Zetsu.

I smiled the best I could; my heart was still trying to calm down, and said, "We have a mission together. I came to try and find you so that we could go."

He blinked at me, and it went silent. For a moment, I began to think he went to sleep with his eyes open. Then, he leaned forward, and sniffed. I froze, watching as he pulled away. I tried to not think about the fact that he had just openly smelled me.

"You **smell** good-**delicious!**" His darker side interrupted, and he frowned at his own words.

He began speaking to himself, arguing with his other half. I waited patiently for Zetsu to talk it out, slipping from his hold to pick up the folder I had dropped. I scooped its contents back in, and shuffled them to make sure they were back in order and neat. When I finished that, Zetsu had completely emerged from the tree and had stopped arguing with his darker self.

Smiling happily, I told him, "I'm going to go pack for the mission. Here," I handed him the folder, "You can read over that and I'll meet you at the entrance, okay?"

Zetsu nodded, opening the folder absent mindedly. I turned, and frowned. I turned back towards Zetsu, and saw him looking at me. I scuffled one foot on the ground, embarrassed, and asked almost quietly, "Can you help me find the door? I'm kind of lost..." I added pitifully.

He nodded after a moment, and reached forward. I froze as his arms slipped around me, pulling me against him. My face heated up slightly, but it was gone when I noticed that we were sinking into the ground. It didn't hurt, but as I was waist deep in the ground it felt like my legs were floating. I had no idea how he could control this, but he was perfectly fine as he sank in with me pressed tightly to him. I couldn't help but breath in a giant gulp of air as my head began to go under.

All I could see was dark, I couldn't even see Zetsu's arms around me. I could feel them, however, holding onto me as we began to resurface. I began to breath again once my head was above ground, and I could see the door to the garden a few feet away. Once completely out of the ground, Zetsu placed me on my feet.

I wobbled slightly, but caught my footing. I smiled at him a bit dizzily, "Thanks, Zetsu."

"**You're** welcome."

Waving at him, I left the gardens and started to make my way towards my room.

* * *

"Ready?" I asked, walking towards the two persona man.

Zetsu stopped what ever conversation he had been having with him self, and nodded. I went to move towards the front door of the base, a giant boulder with many seals placed upon it, but was stopped. Zetsu, once again and with out a word to comment on it, pulled me towards him and began to sink once more. For a moment I thought of how easy this mission could be with Zetsu's ability, but I quickly brushed it off. This was still a mission, and it was still dangerous.

We went into the dark, and once again I couldn't see a thing. For a moment, it was almost scary. A flash of the darkness in my dreams haunted me, but I knew that this was different. Everything was light here, and I knew it was reality because I could still feel Zetsu's arm around me. I slowly relaxed into his hold as the darkness went on for a while, slowly becoming a bit bored.

Just as I was actually falling asleep, our heads poked out of the thick trunk of a tree. I blinked tiredly, and focused on the three men talking down below us. I felt Zetsu move a little behind me, felt slightly uncomfortable. I didn't know him very well, and haven't really had to be close like this with a guy. Even if Zetsu looked different then the average guy, he was still a guy and it was a bit awkward.

Brushing away my emotions, I focused on the mission and began to listen to the full on conversation being held below us.

"When are we going to get the information you promised us?" One ninja asked, his forehead protector gleaming in the sun.

A man, a simple looking man dressed in slick clothes that could only be bought by those with a quite a bit of cash, chuckled as though the ninja had just asked the man if he ruled the world, "Money first, silly."

The ninja, annoyed by the man's antics, thrust a large sack at the man. The man stumbled, catching the sack against his stomach. He grinned greedily, peering inside to inspect his earn. He fished into the sack and produced a handful of money. He even took the time just to count the amount in his hand, causing annoyance to enter the air around us all.

I blinked down at the man, and soaked in his appearance. He looked just like he did in the photo. He looked to be about in his mid-thirties, and was actually quite good looking. He had a strong jaw line, with smooth features accept for a single scar running across his left cheek. His hair was a dark shade of blue, so dark that it would most likely appear black in the dark. His eyes were a chocolate shade of brown, and when he wasn't expressing an emotion it almost looked like they were glossy and soft.

Suddenly, the man stiffened. Zetsu pulled me into his chest as we ducked back into the tree, the two of us almost getting caught by wildly suspicious brown eyes staring up at the spot we used to be located at on the tree. We resurface on the bottom of a large branch, hidden by leaves. I looked down at the man, and watched as he leaned forward to hand the two ninja a scroll.

Zetsu completely pulled out of the tree, taking me with him. I fell to the ground, landing in a light crouch. The three men jumped back as Zetsu landed behind me, all looking shocked at his appearance. The man, who had been clutching his money bag desperately as we appeared, gasped as he looked at the red clouds on our cloaks. His vivid eyes shined in horror, and he gazed at us with his mouth open in a silent scream.

One of the ninja looked at me, and blinked in shock, "Sakura?"

I faltered, caught off guard. I looked at the man, my heart skipping a beat, "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Zetsu put a hand on my shoulder, and I looked at him. He shook his head, and I felt disappointment fill me. I wasn't allowed to hear what this man could've told me. Most likely because it would ruin Pein's slow memory recovery for me. I sighed tiredly, and drew out the black gloves I had bought the day Deidara, Tobi, and I went shopping.

I slipped them on, and looked at the man. His chocolate eyes met my apple pair, and he began to sputter pleads. My heart strained, before I went into a cold demeanor. I leapt at the man, and he flipped backwards in a sloppy dodge. He threw his bag of money off to the side, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead.

Wasting no time, I ran forward with my chakra intertwining into my fists. With a small cry, I threw my fist forward. The man rolled, and my fist collided with the tree behind him. It exploded into shards off wood, fallen at the impact of my fist. Sharply, I faced the man. He was staring at the tree I had cut down with noticeable fear.

I pulled my body into a stance, trying ignore the bloodshed Zetsu was causing on the other side of the clearing. I locked eyes with him, and simply saw a human being. A human being, with human emotions and human nature. Did he deserve to die? I did not know. Would I regret killing him? No, but not because my heart was encased in ice like some would believe.

No guilt would fall on me, because I was fighting for more then myself. I was fighting for Akatsuki. Even though there wasn't much to that now, when my life would begin to unravel and remold its self, it would mean the whole world to me.

* * *

**Piper: There you go! I've just realized how short my chapters are, only a thousand to two thousand words a chapter. I know some of you are used to reading big chapters, but this is what I've gotten used to writing. When I first started writing, my chapters were huge but poorly written. I don't want to give you guys half-assed stuff (I apologize for the language), so I hope that I am making up for the lack of length.**

dotwiper **had asked me why there was no Zetsu, and I didn't mean to not mention him. He was there, to be honest, but he just never got mentioned. After I got that review, I decided adding a bit more Zetsu would make things fun!**

**Please review!**


	10. Shadow Man

Piper: Sorry! I tried to hurry! Oh, and I'm answering a question. I didn't mean to make it seem like Zetsu was touchy feely, more like he just didn't care if he got close. He just seems like that kinda guy to me, that he either respects personal space completly or he's not afraid of just getting into it without a thought.

**I don't own Naruto.**

**WARNINGS: Violence**

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Chapter 10 - Shadow Man

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**Sakura Haruno**

I raced forward, the world spinning around me. I jumped from foot to foot, before pouncing. The man dodged in a jerky flinch, but to his surprise I hadn't even been aimed at him. I moved swiftly mid-air, flipping over so that my feet connected to the tree a few feet behind him. I manipulated my chakra to softened the blow, and keep my feet more balanced against the bark.

In one swift movement, almost a seconds after I had touched against the tree, I pushed myself off. I reached forward, and my hand cupped the man's throat when I got close enough. I clenched my hand, feeling his throat attempt to swallow against my grip. Pulling backwards, I threw him with as much force as I could. When his throat left my hand, I could see a red print left on the skin. The chakra in my hand had intensified the affect of my grip, and had burned his skin where I had touched.

He collided with a tree, and his bones audibly cracked as his body hurtled through the wood like a boulder. He went through one more tree after that, before smashing to a stop in another. The tree groaned, and seemed to have caved into itself slightly at his impact. This man, obviously only a simple ninja that knew only the few basics, looked up at me with his beautiful eyes. The were wide with fear, shining with an intensity that I almost wanted to lower the short dagger I clutched in my fist.

I took his life, with a simple flick of my wrist. My heart skipped a beat as the kunai cut into the soft tissue of his chest, and pierced his heart. The dagger I had used was not to be confused with a kunai, for it was not shaped like one. It was simply a short sword, only about seven inches long, but at least four inches thick.

The man's eyes slowly began to close as his life slipped away, and I gently helped his body go to the ground. I pulled my dagger from his corpse and slowly pulled away. I heard a wet noise from across the clearing, and assumed that Zetsu was probably making a meal of the two ninja. I closed myself away from my surroundings, and walked away from the clearing a little ways to let Zetsu have his meal in private.

It took only a little while for him to finish, and I felt his chakra come closer to mine and soon heard his feet walking against the grass. I looked at him over my shoulder, and smiled slightly. Zetsu blinked at me once, then looked at the sky. I moved towards him as he reached forward, and we slowly sunk into the ground.

Everything went weightless, and this time I fell half asleep through the process of getting to the base. I was aware of my surroundings, but my mind was asleep. The weightlessness of my limbs added to the feeling, and my breathing slowed down. I was happy that we were able to finish the mission so quickly and efficiently. They had chosen a place in the middle of no where, which had made it much easier for us.

When we resurfaced, we were outside Pein's office. Zetsu placed me on my feet, and I laced strands of chakra into my legs to keep my balance. I reached my fist up, and rapped my knuckles on the wood. There was a moment of silence, before a confirmation rang out. I opened the door, Zetsu trailing behind.

"It didn't take as long as I had expected," Pein mused, looking up at us from an open scroll atop the clutter on his desk.

"We stumbled apon the man in a meeting, and they were exchanging information. We didn't need much proof, so we intervened," I explained, and Zetsu kept quiet.

Pein nodded and looked back at the open scroll, "You are dismissed."

Zetsu sank into the ground, and I simply took the door. I started towards the kitchen, picking my brain for the right directions. Even though I had been here for a while, it was so easy to take a wrong turn in this large base. At one turn, I stopped an frowned. I didn't know if this was the turn, or the next one along.

Biting my lip, I looked down the turn, before letting my feet follow my eyes. I was a bit unsure if I was going the right way, but continued to make my way down. I was sure that if I did get lost, I could just expand my chakra and hope someone would notice my distress.

Finally, the hallway came to an end and I came to a set of double doors. Frowning, I knew that I had definitely gone the wrong way. I went to turn, but my curiousity began to show. I looked at the doors, and slowly walked forward. I wrapped one hand around each knob, and opened the doors.

Amazement shone on my face as I looked around, finding myself in a large library. The walls were made of shelves, stocked full and at least ten feet tall each. There were rows of shelves across the room, all filled to the brim of books of many kinds. Old, new, large, and small books with their spines peeking out of their places. Off to the side there were a few comfortable looking chairs, a side table with a lamp perched between two of them.

Overwhelmed, I began to walked along the rows of shelves, trailing my fingers across their spines. My eyes soaked in their titles, and the urge to open up the pages of each book my fingers grazed was almost unbearable. Some of the titles were engraved into the binds, and I could feel their impressions as I ran my hand along. Each surface I touched, however, was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Suddenly, I hit a book that wasn't completely covered in dust. Surprised, I stopped. It seemed to be a history book of the ninja lands, and it seemed so out of place because it wasn't in the same condition as the others. It wasn't that it wasn't knew or not, it was just that all the books seemed untouched while this one looked recently used.

I gazed around, pointedly looking around to see if there were any others that had been dusted off. The closer I looked, I could see the clean spines of books randomly dotted around the shelves. Someone must've been reading these books recently, which seemed a bit odd. Most of the library seemed untouched, accept for these few books and a certain worn looking chair over with the others.

"I see you have noticed that this library is not completely forgotten," A silky voice flowed through the silence, sending a shiver up my spine.

My heart jumped, and I spun around. I didn't see anyone, and I looked around wildly. I couldn't even feel an inkling of this man's chakra, and his voice was unfamiliar to me. I could feel his presence, but had no idea where he was hiding. I heard him chuckle, the sound vibrating in my chest.

"Where are you?" I asked, looking around wildly.

He chuckled again, and something shifted in the corner of my eyes. My head turned just in time to see the silhouette of the man in the shadows. He didn't move any farther, cloaked in the darkness like a true ninja. I could see the outlines of his body, and noted the wild spikes of his dark hair. I could feel his eyes one me as I tried to look closer at his features.

"Who are you?" I questioned, and I could feel his eyes pierce into mine.

"You are a very curious girl," He noted, darting around my question.

I frowned at him, and I could feel his smirk. Anger bubbled at me and I knew that he knew what he was doing. I saw him reached behind him, and pull a hood over his head. He stepped into the lighter parts of the library, the top half of his face hidden by the dark hood. I frowned at his secrecy, but fear overpower anything else as he began to prowl forward.

His movements were fluid, silky. He was so graceful, I was jealous. I could tell he was powerful, he practically radiated in strength when he wasn't using said strength to hide in the shadows. I began to back away, each step I took he seemed to be able to take two more. I cursed as my back hit a shelf, and he continued to advance. Suddenly he was right in front of me, and I could smell his breath as it fanned my face. The only way I could describe it as was fresh, and it tickled my senses every time he exhaled.

Suddenly, he reached forward. I flinched as he hand came near my face, and felt his fingers graze my cheeks. His hand reached behind me, and he pulled a book off the shelf. I blinked in surprise as he dangled it in front of my face. Reaching slowly, I curved my fingers around the spine. He let go of the book slowly, and I held my breath as he spoke.

"I recommend this, it's a good read if I do say so my self."

And then, he was gone. I could hear my name being called, and I shook my head to try and get his lingering memory out of my head.

* * *

**Piper: Review if you know who that was, lol.**


	11. Sharp

**Piper: Hiya guys!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 11 - Sharp

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**Sakura Haruno**

The book's cover seem to have invisible eyes, because it was almost like it was staring at me from its position on my desk. I paced my room a bit, feeling it there on the desk. I turned to look at it, and it sat there innocently. Frowning, I walked up to my desk and stared down at the blue dressed hardback book. It's golden letters shimmered from the light flowing in, my curtains open just enough to leak in the light from outside. I reached forward, and touched the engraved title.

I couldn't remember if I liked books or not, but I was overcome with the urge to soak in every detail printed upon the crisp pages. I took the cover between my fingers, and flipped it open. A vast amount of knowledge stared back at me, and I tilted my head in curiosity. I took the large book in my hands carefully, the old blue cover feeling old and tattered against my skin. Holding the book a bit closer to my eyes, I took a page between my fingers and flipped it.

_'Oh!'_

A world was opened up to my mind, a world told through the simple ink and paper. The history, the details, and the life drew me in. I maneuvered myself backwards and plopped onto the edge of my bed, my mind sinking into the book. It was amazing how much life a simple thing could have. It was almost as if I didn't have to look at the words, like the book was whispering its contents to me. I moved towards the headboard and relaxed, sinking into the world of printed paper and the ninja world.

My insides curled when I finished the large history book, four hours later. I wanted to read more, to know more information.

Shaking the feeling, I thought back to two days ago when the book had been given to me by that mysterious man. I shivered a little, and tried pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind but couldn't. The reason being that if I did want to go and get some more books, and maybe scrolls, for myself to read, I would have to go back to the library where the shadow man may lurk once more. There were mixed feelings towards that thought.

I didn't know what he was capable of, and I didn't know what his intentions were. He could've killed me that first time I met him, there was no mistaking that. His power had rolled off him in waves, in a way that made me wish I could at least be a quarter of how strong he was.

Power. I didn't know why, but these days the thought of strength made me a bit upset. I didn't feel...strong. At first I had been happy with how well my power was developing, the strength and medical jutsu becoming like a second nature. Pein had even told me that I was almost back into the condition I had been before I had been knocked out, but it didn't make me feel better anymore. After watching the others train occasionally, I knew I was the weakest of the Akatsuki. I wasn't even close to being at their level. I didn't bring fear like they did, and when I trained I almost felt pathetic as I pulled my fist up to fight.

Sighing, I shook my head and decided to risk the library. Even if the stranger was there, maybe he offer another book like he had the time before.

Almost missing my turn, I cursed myself for being so bad at moving around the base. Finally, I reached the library and paused at the doors. I couldn't feel any chakra inside, but that didn't mean he wasn't there. The first time he had hidden so well that even the other Akatsuki might not've been able to detect him, and that said a lot.

Turning the handles, I opened the doors just slightly and slid inside. They closed with a dull _'thunk'_ behind me, and I looked around the library. It was the same as before, accept now it seemed a bit more frightening. Now that I knew there was a possibility there was someone in here that could probably kill my with his pinkie finger lurking in the shadows, the darkness and lack of light seemed to be much more eerie.

Just as I was actually beginning to feel like I might actually be alone, someone chuckled in my ear.

My heart slammed against my ribcage, furiously racing at the scare. I made no noise, however, and stood like a statue. I could feel him towering behind me, his tall figure looming over my short stature. Cursing myself for behind so short, I slowly turned to face him. Even with my head tilted up slightly, I went face-to-face with his chest. Frowning, I looked up even more, into the darkness of his hood. His hood, I noticed, must have been enhanced with a jutsu. There was no natural way the hood could be that dark, so dark that his face was completely covered. The only thing I could really make out was a bit of his jaw line, and that was it.

"Welcome back," His smooth voice made me shiver, fear tickling my spine.

His voice was so calm, yet so deadly. It was like ice, pleasant to see, or in this case, hear, yet the cold of it could almost kill you itself.

I wanted to say something, anything, but my tongue had tied itself into a double knot and then dived down the back of my throat.

He chuckled again, and reached for the book I carried. I had brought it with me to put back on the shelves, seeing no use in keeping it cooped up in my room when it rightfully belonged here.

"Did you enjoy it?" He mused, looking over the book.

At least, I thought he was. I couldn't see any trace of his eyes beneath that jutsu laced hood of his.

Still trying to force my tongue to move, I nodded a little. I could almost feel him smirk at my silence, and it burned me a little. He slowly moved around me, walking towards the shelves of books. I watched as he smoothly glided over the shelf he had pinned me to before, placing the book in its home. He looked around, his hooded head moving around so that his eyes could scan to higher and lower rows of books. After a moment, he skipped the books and went to the scrolls, and pulled one off the shelf.

I didn't see him move, but suddenly he was back in front of me. My heart raced once more at the sudden movement, and I almost yelled at him to quit scaring me. The words didn't quite make it out of my throat, sadly. He held the scroll out to me, and I carefully took it from his grasp, and felt a jolt run up my arm when I touch his skin.

Looking at his hand, I saw that he wore black, finger-less gloves. His bare fingers had grazed mine in the exchange, the pale skin of them almost as cold as they look. His skin tone was quite literally the color of snow on his fingers, and I couldn't help but notice that our skin tones were pretty much the same. The color of white snow, the color of porcelain.

I could feel his eyes burn into me as I got lost in my thoughts, and quickly snapped back into reality. I looked at the scroll in my hands, curious. I began to unroll it, watching as the hand painted lettering began to reveal itself. When the scroll was completely unraveled, I realized what this was. It was a jutsu scroll, going into a depth of how to use ones fists along with the jutsu to manipulate the elements. This jutsu was very, very complex. It required so much power to learn, and would take many people years to learn.

A cold finger curled underneath my chin, and brought my head up. My eyes widened in a deep shock as I was suddenly staring into the eyes of the stranger, eyes that seemed so painfully familiar. So familiar that the memories were pounding against my skull, practically fighting to reach the surface, only to be stopped by the seal that was now burning like flames against my back.

Intricate black designs swimming in vibrant crimson pools of ice, that was the only way to describe them. And swim they did quiet literally, the black design moving around his pupil through the deep red color of his eyes. They looked into me, reading me like I was one of the books on the shelves surrounding us. They pierced my heart, and soul. They were full of many things, yet were shielded at the same time. They were some many contradictions at once that it hurt my head trying to think of them all.

"When I'm done with you, you will have mastered this jutsu and many more. I will make you what you desire to be in your own eyes along with everyone else; worthy. When we are finished, people will cower under you like you do under me," He said, and I could almost see the outlines of his lips moving.

His eyes twirled, and my breath was still caught in my throat. I was loosing myself in them, quite literally. My head began to feel lighter as my brain lost oxygen, and the fear began to freeze over my veins. The man stared at me as my mind began to shut down, and his eyes continued to dance. Life stood still as my vision began to dim, darkness swallowing me whole as I dropped to the floor.

* * *

"-ke up! Blossom, wake up!"

My mind began to restart, and I was slightly aware of my surroundings. I squinted through the haze of my gradually clearing eyesight, seeing an orange swirl looking down at me. I blinked at it a few times, confused, before my mind recognized the covered face. I slowly began to sit up, a strong hand placed against my back as support.

"Tobi?" I questioned, making the swirly masked man nod a few times.

I looked around at the dimly lighted room, wandering where I was. I ran my tongue over my dry lips, trying to see clearly.

Tobi helped me get up to me feet, one hand on my back and the other on my arm. He helped me steady, before pulling away slowly. He jumped suddenly, making me blink in shock at the sudden movement. He bent down and picked a piece of paper off the floor, presenting it to me like a child would.

I took it carefully, and he explained, "Tobi found Blossom in the library, on the floor! Tobi found this laying next to Sakura, and Tobi did not read because Tobi is a Good Boy and doesn't read what isn't his!"

Glancing over the note, I placed it in my pocket and smiled at Tobi, asking quietly, "Can you help me find the kitchen, Tobi?"

He nodded, looping his arm through mine and leading me from the the library. I watched the way we went carefully, hoping to put it to memory and not get lost against. It was hard to focus, however, with the note branding a special place in my mind. It was a simple line, written in an elegant script that made me a bit jealous that my own hand writing wasn't as neat. That simple line clearly stated, looking beautiful yet a bit frightening at the same time:

_'Training grounds. 11:00 tonight.'_

I frowned at the lack of signature, wishing that I knew who this person was. I didn't even know if I should go, because to be honest that man scared me just as much as he fascinated me. For all I know he might be an enemy living right under our noses, but most of me doubted that. This man was powerful, but so was Pein. Even if the man might possibly be stronger then Pein, Pein would still be able to know whether or not he was here.

"Here we are, Blossom!" Tobi said, and I snapped from my thoughts.

Smiling, I patted his arm, "Thanks, Tobi. I'm a bit hungry, aren't you?"

He nodded, and I pulled him towards the table, "Then I'll start on some lunch..." I looked at the clock, and found myself surprised it was much to late to be lunch, and shrugged, "Supper, I guess. I must've been out cold for pretty long. Thanks for finding me Tobi."

Tobi wrapped his arms around me tightly, "It's no problem for Tobi, Blossom! Tobi is a good boy!"

When he put me down, I began to work, and got lost in the calming art of cooking. Like normal days, the kitchen began to fill as food lingered in the air. This time, even Pein joined everyone at the table. Smiling, I got to work on making a good dinner to fill up the boys, but also take my mind off of the clock. It was getting close eight, which meant I only had three hours before I was supposed to go and meet the man with the crimson eyes.

When supper was over, I rested on my bed and tried to calm myself down. I looked through my window, the curtains opened wide to let the moonlight spill in. The stars were shining, and I found myself wishing. Wishing for my past to return to me, for myself to be able to remember. I didn't really think about the bad things that could've happened to me, things I might've wanted to forget. I was to focused on just remembering everything to really think about any of that.

The clock drew close to eleven, so I began to make my way to the training field outside the base. I didn't need to get lost trying to find the entrance, so I just jumped from my open window. The two story fall didn't effect me the least as I landed in a crouch, the wet grass crunching beneath my flat foot boots. I rose, before taking off in a run.

Night air nipped at my skin, causing goose bumps to rise. I ignored it, and continued to run. The feeling of my legs pushing away from the ground and pull of my muscles felt refreshing, after cooping myself up for four hours of reading and then fainting from fear. However, it was cut short as I entered the clearing. It looked empty, but I knew by now that it wasn't.

Breathing in, the cold air coated the insides of my lungs uncomfortable. I ignored it, to intent on discovering the man before he had the chance to pop out and scare me once more. I expanded my chakra, feeling around carefully. I listened to every little noise, waiting for him to make a mistake. A single, little mistake. But, it was I who made the mistake and I knew it when I felt his warm breath brush my ear.

"Hello."

* * *

**Piper: Whoo! At first I got stuck but now I feel really good about this even though nothing really happened except more Mada - Saku interaction, and I know we all love that.**

**Please review!**


	12. Butterfly

**Piper: New chapter, yay!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 12 - Butterfly

* * *

**Sakura Haruno**

I slowly let out a breath, trying to pace my breathing back again. Slowly, I turned to face the man with what I hoped was a blank face. His eyes were hidden once more, the dark hood hiding every inch of his face. Even though it was hidden from me, I could tell he was smirking. I could almost feel it burning into me, and it kind of made me want to hit him. I didn't know where the irritation was coming from, but I knew I had to keep it in check. Now was not the time to discover I had a temper, and make this mysterious stranger angry.

Quiet. That's what it was as we looked at each other, me fidgeting slightly under his gaze. The memory of those crimson eyes struck me, and to think that they were staring me down at the current moment made me uneasy. The fact that I couldn't see them watching me, added to that feeling.

"Did you," I paused, "mean what you said?"

He leaned forward slightly, and I was washed with his smell. I forced myself to attention as he spoke, "Yes. Training starts now."

And then, he was gone. Still here, but with the intention to hit and make me hit back. Fear tickled my spine, and I tensed my body in preparation. The grass shifted behind me, and I snapped around. It was only the wind, shifting the grass with its gentle touch. Feeling a bit stupid, I concentrated once more.

Pain bloomed along my shoulder, as a vicious punch landed a blow. I could here my shoulder crack, and bit my lip to keep myself from crying out. I turned, only to see him standing in one place, arms crossed over his chest. I suddenly felt like a small child being scolded by a disappointed parent, and straightened up.

"You're faster then you were, but you are still slow," He observed, and I frowned.

I thought that I had been doing good with my speed, but this shadow has obviously proved me wrong.

A hand rested on top of my head, and I looked at him. He spoke in a superior tone that seemed to fit him so well, "Do not worry, Sakura. When we are through, you will be almost as fast as I."

I very much doubt that.

He chuckled, and my face heated up in a warm blush. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Wishing that the red dusting my cheeks would go away, I turned my head away slightly. Slowly, his hand slid from the top of my head to my chin, forcing me to look at him with a strong grip. He leaned forward slightly, and his breath fanned my face.

"Do not turn away from me when we are speaking. You may not have been taught much since your memories were erased, but you will show me some respect," He breathed, and my body felt cold.

His voice was so calm, that it was the most threatening thing I think I have ever heard.

"S-Sorry," I said, and cursed myself for stuttering.

Nodding, he pulled away, leaving me slightly colder and a hell of a lot more terrified. He turned, speaking as he did so, "We are going to start on hand to hand combat."

I frowned, and protested, "I'm sorry, sir, but I've already worked on that."

He looked at me over his shoulder, and I saw a glimpse of crimson, "Yes, but you are hectic. You are not composed, and to reckless. Swinging around like a hellion will not help you win battles. You have learned how to control the chakra in your fists, now you must learn the art of using that power the right way."

I was beginning to feel pathetic. Was I honestly this underdeveloped in the style of fighting I thought was my specialty? I didn't know. I didn't know anything anymore.

We both took stances, our fists up. He called to me from his position, the wind carrying his voice, "Do not worry about my speed, this isn't about that currently. Just focus on keeping your movements controlled, and concentrate."

I nodded letting out a slow breath. A moment of silence passed as we only stared at each other, before we both moved. He was using the same level of speed as I was to keep it balanced, and I concentrated like he told me to. I planned out my attacks, and tried to keep myself from mucking anything up.

When the sun began to rise, surprisingly uncovered by rain clouds at the moment, training was over. Sore and covered in bruises, I sighed to myself. Training with this man was nothing like with Pein or any of the other Akatsuki. He was very fluid with his movements, everything he did so gracefully that anyone would be jealous. Not only was his grace impressive, but he made it pack a punch. Any punch or kick he delivered bloomed pain like a flower in spring, and spread like a disease.

He looked at the sky, and rotated his shoulder a bit. I smiled to myself. I had actually gotten a hit in while training. Even though it was only one hit while he had practically bruised almost ever inch of me, I was still happy.

"Do you want me to heal that?" I asked quietly, running my chakra laced hands over some of my own bruises. I watched as they shrunk and the pain began to subside, the tingle of chakra slightly warm to the touch.

After I asked, I felt stupid. This guy was obviously strong enough to deal with the wimpy little hit I had magically landed on him. But, to my great surprise, he nodded. He removed his hood and jacket. Surprised, I was quick to try and look at his face. Every time I tried to focus on it my eye sight blurred, and I realized that a jutsu was preventing me from concentrating on his face. He moved his shoulder towards me, his clouded face watching as I leaned forward with glowing hands, frown on my face.

He wore a sleeveless shirt underneath, leaving his shoulder to my access. I placed my hands on the slight bruised skin and began to work, still trying to focus on his face. The only thing I could make out the slightest, was his hair. It was a wild lions mane of hair, ebony black and spiky. It made his head look a bit small, this mass of hair of his, but it seemed to fit even though I couldn't make out a single fragment of his face.

His skin was warmer then the first time we had touched, the constant movement of training keeping making his blood rush and his skin warm. I could feel his chakra, assessing mine to see how strong I was in my medical area. Determined to be good at something, I pushed my chakra into his skin. Detecting and healing the bruise was as easy as breathing, and I was quick to heal it.

It was a bit unnerving being so close to him, his chakra like giant walls surrounding me.

Pulling away, I smiled at my fast work. It hadn't take more then a few seconds to heal, and the blemish that had stained his shoulder was now gone, leaving the snowy white skin to its natural tone.

He nodded at me, pulled his jacket back on. The hood went up, and his fuzzy image disappeared into the darkness of his hood. He turned to leave, and said to me, "Meet me here again two days from now, the same time. Don't be late. If you show up tired, I will not go easy on you just for your mistake."

Then, he was gone. I frowned, and couldn't help but think to myself about how big of a jerk this man was. Shaking it off, I myself turned from the clearing and ran for the base.

* * *

"You look tired, kid," Kisame commented as I cooked breakfast, my body still a bit sore from my training,

I smiled at him, and said, "Yeah, I didn't sleep to well last night."

_'Or at all,'_ I added to myself mentally. It had been going on six in the morning when I got to the base, and I got three hours of sleep before my body woke me up and I started working on breakfast for my fellow Akatsuki.

"Oh, Tobi's sorry for Blossom," Tobi said from behind me, making me jump.

He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug, making Kisame scowl at him slightly. Deidara walked by the kitchen, and upon seeing Tobi wrapped around me, grabbed the masked man by the back of the shirt and drug him away. Tobi ripped away from me, whining at Deidara.

I laughed, turning back to the food cooking. The door opened again and I looked, surprised to see Zetsu. I waved, catching his attention, and said, "Zetsu, if you're hungry there's some raw meat on the counter over there. It should be thawed out by now."

The two persona man stare at me, a little bit of shock in his eyes. I smiled at him, turning back to my food. He didn't move for a moment, before I heard him make his way to the counter and take the plate of raw meat I had thawed out. I smiled happily as I heard him leave the room, taking the food with him.

I felt a pair of eyes on my back. Turning slightly, I looked and saw Sasori staring at me intently. I blinked, waving at him slightly. He nodded, but the puppet master seemed to have a lot on his mind. I checked my food before I turned back again, asking out loud, "Are you okay, Sasori?"

The inhabitants of the kitchen looked at the puppet man for a moment, before going back to their original tasks. He nodded slightly, folding his hands together on the table top.

Frowning, I turned away. Even though most of the Akatsuki seemed unapproachable, lots of them were pretty easy to get along with. The only one's in the Akatsuki I really found myself having trouble relaxing around were Kakuzu, Itachi, and Sasori. Even though these three seemed to be the most antisocial of the Akatsuki, not counting Pein, it made me a bit frustrated. Itachi just plain didn't like to talk, Kakuzu was just Kakuzu, but Sasori was different.

Sasori would talk to me occasionally, but there was something about him that told me that he was hiding something from me or that he didn't like me. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why that was. The others seemed to know, too, because they honestly didn't seem to find his behavior towards me strange at all.

"Food's done!" I called, and began bringing plates to the table.

Tobi bounced up to help, dragging Deidara with him, "Tobi is going to show Senpai how to be a good boy like Tobi is!" He declared.

I laughed at the two as they passed, Deidara trying to get away from Tobi. Tobi didn't let go until Deidara told him that he would help. Still laughing, I sat down between Itachi and Hidan once everyone had a plate. I couldn't help but notice from the corner of my eye, the book that Itachi was reading as he ate. A familiar, old blue cover stood out to me.

Blurting out before I could stop myself, I told him, "I've read that book."

Itachi's eyes snapped to me, and I found myself freezing as I looked at his eyes. I hadn't really noticed, but they were the eyes of my new teacher. For a moment my mind freaked out, jumping to so many conclusions that my brain hurt. But I was quick to stop it, realizing that Itachi couldn't be the man. Even though they both shared captivating voices, they had different tones. And Itachi's hair was far from "wild".

Blushing, I looked down at my plate, "I found the library one time when I got lost. I...I picked a book to read and it was that one."

Lying felt wrong on my tongue, but it was only a small one so it didn't stain my conscience.

"I've read through it a couple of times," Itachi admitted, and I was surprised to hear a response.

Smiling a little, I nodded as I spoke, "It's a good book to read."

Tobi, who sat across the table from me, looked between Itachi and I before bursting out, "Tobi's read a book before! It was about a bunny-pirate that lost his Senpai and travel on many different adventures to save his Senpai from the terrible pandas!"

Deidara whacked him over the head, growling, "You didn't read that story, you wrote it, yeah! And you force me to listen to you read all four hundred and seven pages of it, yeah!"

Tobi beamed at him, rubbing the back of his head.

Laughter bubbled in my chest, and I shook my head at the two.

As meal time was drawing to an end, Zetsu entered the kitchen once more. He placed his empty plate in the sink, and turned towards me, "Thank **you**, Sakura. Also, the **bastard**-Leader, would like **to see** you."

I nodded, pushing away from the table. I picked up my empty plate, and smiled as Tobi called to me as I left, "Don't worry Blossom, Senpai will do the dishes!"

* * *

Knocking on the door, I listen for a reply.

"Enter."

I opened the door a crack and slipped through, closing the door behind me. Pein's dark ringed eyes stared at me, and I moved towards the center of the room, "Zetsu said you wanted to see me?"

He nodded, and motioned for me to sit. I did so, and it went quiet for a minute. Pein had been reading a scroll when I had entered, and he took a little time to finish reading it before he placed it on his cluttered desk. He moved a few things around before he looked at me, and began, "I wanted to give you something. I was shifting through some old things of mine and found these. Even though you can't remember, I thought that you might want to have them."

He stood, motioning for me to follow him. We walked to a door on the side of the room, and a small shock went through me as I realized that he was leading me to his room. A bit nervous, and slightly curious, I followed as he opened the door and walked inside.

It was a nice room, with a plush black carpet and red painted walls. A kind sized bed was in the middle of the wall to my left, covered will a black comforter and many pillows. It had a black canopy above, and curtains that could be drawn around the sides of the bed. Other then that the room was a bit plain, with a desk, dresser, and shelf of books occupying the other corners of the room. The desk resembled a smaller version of the desk in his office; cluttered.

A black case lay on the bed, and Pein led me over to that. He stood off to the side, motioning for me to open the case. I hesitated before I reached forward, my fingers gliding over the silver buckles. I flicked them open, and pulled up the lid of the case. Two items stared back at me, and at the time I had no idea how much these things could mean.

I reached in, pulling a pair of fighting gloves from their position in the case. They were still sturdy, but you could tell they had been worn. They were black, a smooth metal plate over the back of each hand. The material grew thin at the wrist, but were thicker towards the fingers and knuckles for fighting. One of the metal plates had a small engraving in the corner of it, and I looked closer to read the name: _Sayuri._

Slowly, I placed down the gloves. The seal on my back burned as memories bubbled, and I looked at the second object in the case. I reached in, slowly pulling a double bladed katana from the soft insides of the case. It was long, at least five feet or so. The thin, long blades were clean and well taken care, scratches from past battles decorating them. I grasped the handle, and could faintly feel the imprints of the old owners hands. They were bigger hands then mine, but they were slender in a way. I could almost feel the warmth of the hands, and for reasons unknown to me I began to tear up a little.

I looked at the gloves, and then the sword once more.

"Do you remember who these belonged to?" Pein asked, and his voice was barely above a whisper.

I shook my head desperately, wishing so bad for my memories. These items seemed so important, so important that the memories trying to show themselves were practically killing me. The seal was hotter then flames, but I ignored its burn. I looked towards Pein, tears shining in my eyes. I pushed them back, and asked in a thick voice, "Whose were they?"

He reached forward, taking the sword from me. He placed it back in it's mold, and picked up the gloves. He was quiet as he took my hands in his. He took my right hand, and took the glove with the engraving on it. He slowly slipped it on, over my fingers. They were warm on the inside, almost as if their last owner had just recently took them off. The warmth was just like the warmth I felt on the sword handle, and I felt my tears pushing back.

Pein slipped the second glove on, and paused. His fingers ran over the engraving on the right glove, and he said softly, "These, were your parent's weapons."

* * *

**Piper: All right, I'm feeling good about this!**

**Please Review!**


	13. Burn

**Piper: Hey guys!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 13 - Burn

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**Sakura Haruno**

I ran a finger over the sharp blade of the katana, and watched as it drew a thin red line across my fingers. A drop of blood leaked from the corner of the cut, and I stuck my finger in my mouth. I sucked the blood away before sealing the wound with a pinch of chakra. Even though the sword had some age on it, you could tell that it was still as great as it was back when it was first made. It was strong, made almost perfectly with some of the best craftsmanship.

Pein watched me carefully, watching as I looked over the gloves and the sword. He stayed quiet, even as I started to shake.

"My parents... They're dead, aren't they? That's why you have these," I whispered, unable to make my voice sound any louder.

He nodded, looking down at the empty case. I shook once more, but forced myself to stop there. The tears swimming in my eyes dried, never touching the skin of my cheeks. I encased my emotions in ice, not wanting to be weak any longer. This was a new turning point, becoming stronger so that I could remember. Crying would not help, no matter how nice it would feel to do so.

I froze as something suddenly wrapped around me, enveloping my body in warmth. It took my a second to realize it was Pein, after he began to speak in my ear.

"Tears are not weakness, Sakura. People with true strength have enough courage to cry in front of others," He told me, and everything suddenly came back.

The ice was melted, and the tears I had fought off jumped at the chance to be released. My cheeks were stained by their trails, falling onto the soft material of Pein's cloak. My body began to shake, and I cried. I took his words in, and allowed myself to cry in front of this man. This man that I supposedly knew, this man that has helped take care of me since I woke. This man that has guided me, and who is teaching me things I could've never figured out on my own.

Pein held me tight against him, and I could've swore I had felt him shake once. But, it most likely was just my own shaking tricking my mind. As he tucked my head beneath his chin, my mind began to swim. Something rose up inside me, and I mentally reached for it. It was coming slowly, and soon my mind was enveloped in a memory.

* * *

_My tiny feet hit the ground as I ran, the shadows of my home jumping out at me. Fear pulsed through my veins, and all I wanted was warmth. I wanted someone to hold me so badly. I wanted my Mommy._

_Light flashed across the windows, a loud booming sounding outside. It was so close that the house shook, and it felt like the world was falling down around me. I wondered if a tree would fall on our house, or if the lightning would just directly strike the building. So many horrifying things ran through my mind as I darted down the hallway._

_Hot tears fell down my cheeks, and sobs were building up in my chest. Mommy and Daddy had left on a mission, and I was alone with my two adopted siblings. There was another thunderstorm going on outside, a common thing in our village. It was odd for someone to have a fear of thunderstorms and live in this village, and normally I was fine with them. I wasn't fine with them when it was dark outside and nightmares were haunting my sleep._

_There had been monsters everywhere, and there was no one around. Not Pein, Konan, Mommy, or Daddy. I was alone, cornered by dark beasts that were as wild as any child's imagination could get. Just as one monster had lunged, I had woken to the loud crashing outside. The noises sounded like monsters themselves! The scratching growling coming from one monsters throats, or the thundering footsteps of the monsters that were taller then buildings was a good comparison._

_"Pein!" I sobbed, throwing his bedroom door open, causing it to hit the wall in my hurry to safety._

_The figure sleeping in the bed shot up, throwing their blankets aside harshly. Pein, who was tall for his ten year old self, stood up, alert. When he only saw me, he blinked, his dark eyes gazing at me curiously. He barely got to mumble out my name, confused, before I collided with his chest._

_His arms wrapped around me as mine went around his middle, and I cried into his chest. I heard him sigh slightly, before he hooked his arms underneath my legs and lift me into his arms. My hands clenched his shirt, my head tucked under his chin. He sat down on the side of his bed, me in his lap._

_My cries began to die in my chest as he ran his hand up and down my back in a comforting motion, the same thing that Mommy used to get me to calm down. The loud booms of the storm left my ears, becoming a mild annoyance in the back of my mind. My hands slowly released his shirt as I began to fall back asleep, moving my head downwards so that I could hear his heartbeat. I sighed happily, and the world darkened into a peaceful dream._

* * *

I blinked into Pein's cloak, and slowly pulled away. He watched me, his eyes the same familiar color they were that night. I looked over him, and noticed how much he had grown since then. He looked the same, yet so different at the same time.

"I remembered something," I informed him, and the light in his eyes shifted.

He leaned forward a bit, "What?"

Looking back at my father's katana, I gripped the handle and brought it to eye level. That night my father had been on a mission, probably using this very sword to cut down his enemies.

"I remembered something from when I was a little girl. Mom and Dad, they were on a mission. It was storming outside, and I had woken up from a nightmare. I ran to your room and you comforted me," I explained, and to my surprise he chuckled.

"Yes, I remember that night. It was one amongst many," He reminisces, "Konan used to get so frustrated that you wouldn't go to her when you were upset. Always me, or Mother."

His eyes fogged over a bit, and I knew that he was remembering past events. It made me slightly jealous, jealous that I couldn't remember along with him. I only had small fragments, and they didn't seem to be leading anywhere.

"My mother, was she your mom, too?" I questioned, hoping to pick a bit more from his memories.

I wanted to remember so bad, despite the seal burning against my back. It was getting easier to ignore, the pain on my back. I was desperate to remember any more, that when a memory got close enough I always tried to push it to reveal its self. I always knew when I was close to remembering something, because there was a certain pressure in my head that was very distinct when it came around. It was like that feeling of forgetting a name to something, and having the answer to it skirting around the edges of your mind.

Pein nodded a slightly, "In a way, yes. We do not share a birth mother, but Sayuri was as much of a mother to Konan and I as she was to you. Sayuri and Ryota adopted Konan and I a few years before Sayuri got pregnant with you."

I nodded a little, and decided to stop questioning for now. No matter how much I wanted to know, the pain in my back was so hot that it was beginning to feel cold, and it was making my bones ache. I took a pained breath in, and saw Pein glance at me from the corners of his eyes. I smiled a little, hoping to reassure him that I was okay.

"I'm fine," I spoke, and he nodded a bit.

Pein reached inside the case, and pulled the sword's sheath from its mold in the lid of the case.

"Here," He said, handing it to me.

I sheathed the sword, and held it close to me. My mother's gloves where still on my hands, and I felt like I never wanted to take them off. I looked at Pein, and asked quietly, "I can keep these?"

He nodded, "Yes, you can. You can use them, or treasure them. If you need some one to train you at sword combat, myself or one of the other Akatsuki would be glad to help you."

I nodded, and turned for the door. I placed my hand on the knob, and paused, forgetting something. I turned my head slightly, smiling at him from over my shoulder, "Thank you, Pein. You honestly have no idea what these things mean to me."

He tilted his head in a short knob, and I left, my back still burning. I left Pein's office and traveled to my room, which was only a few halls away. When I opened my door, I honestly had no idea that I wasn't alone. Only when I set the sheathed sword on the foot of my bed, did I figure that out. And, I was greeted normally by this person.

"Hello," A voice breathed in my ear, and a shriek almost came out of my mouth.

I spun around, looking into the hidden face of my teacher. His eyes were hidden along with his face once more, but I could practically feel the smirk coming from him. I frowned a little at him, but held my tongue. I knew that I was not great enough a person to back talk him, but hopefully I would be soon, under his guidance.

"I see that Pein gave you a few trinkets from your parents," He said casually, looking around me to peer at the sword, "It seems like we might have more to train with, yes?"

My head snapped up, and I stepped towards him, "You can teach me how you to use my father's sword?"

His hooded face turned towards me, and I blushed at my stupidity. Of course he could. But, whether he would or not was a different question. I didn't even understand why he was training me, or what would make him want to teach me another art along with the multiple things he had planned for me. It didn't make sense, and I was almost positive I wouldn't get a straight answer from this man.

"Of course, I _can_ teach you. Will I? Only if you show me some promise in you current training," He said.

I nodded, determined, "Of course."

"Good," He nodded, and turned to leave from the room.

"Wait!" I blurted, and turned red when he looked at me over his shoulder. "I... You haven't given me a name, yet. I don't have anything to call you."

It was silent for a moment, before he said something that made me shiver a bit, "Call me Tobi, Blossom."

* * *

**Piper: Sorry, not very much in this chapter!**

**Please Review!**


	14. Delirious

**Piper: I am so sorry. I didn't mean for this to take so long, but life's been a bit hectic lately. I had spring break, and a family member of mine was in the hospital. I'm not using these as excuses, I just want to tell you why I've been taking so long. I know that doesn't make up for the wait, so I'm hoping to get you some chapters up.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 13 - Delirious

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**Sakura Haruno**

I remembered something. When Tobi left, and I sat down to try and collect myself from the shock, I remembered something. It wasn't a real distinct memory, but a past feeling. It wasn't related to Tobi in any way, I knew that, but it had been kicked out of the protection of my seal because of how emotionally raging I was at the moment.

See, as I sat there trying to think, something stirred. At first, I was excited. A memory was surfacing my brain, but all I could feel was it skim the surface of my mind. It left a terrible mark, a sickening pain. It wasn't physical, but so emotionally painful that I had slipped from the bed and onto the floor. My heart tried to fight off the heart break that overcame me, and the part that had me in hysterics was that I had no idea why I was feeling this way. I couldn't remember, but I knew now that in my past something had broken me in a way that could bring me to my knees.

I felt crazy, psychotic even. There I was, sobbing and clawing at the skin above my heart, with no reason for why I was doing so. The pain spread, and soon I lay on the floor with tears silently streaming from my eyes. Drained emotionally, I sat there on the cold, hard floor. I could hard breathe, and my face was soaked from tears. I couldn't see hardly anything, my eyes blurred by my tears.

"What's wrong with me?" I whispered, my voice coming out cracked and soft.

Recovering my past was the only thing that mattered to me, but now that I felt this pain, I didn't know if I wanted to any longer. The pain had been so real, so shocking, even though it had only been a small fragment from the past. At that moment, I didn't know if I wanted to know my memories. I didn't want to know if something had hurt me, because if it hurt as much as that memory had it would be better off left alone.

Shaking, I realized I had no energy to get up. My chakra was lively, full, but I couldn't use it. More like, I didn't want to. I wanted to stay on the floor and rot, to let the feeling slowly slide away. My throat was sore, and my heart was fluttering. This was something I haven't really felt after I woke. Putting a name to the feeling, I realized something akin to depression.

Feeling crazy for having such mood swing, I forced my protesting body off the floor. I walked to my bathroom and washed my face off, afraid to let anyone see the tear tracks on my face. If they found out I had been crying, they would ask why, and I would have no answer. The last thing I need is for the only people around me to think I'm crazy. For some reason, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle being alone like this.

**Pein**

"I do not think she is ready for this."

"Think of it as a challenge for her. She has to face a few tough things in her life sometime."

"She has already began to remember him, bringing her there could cause confusion for her if she hears his name or begins to remember more."

"She is already confused."

"If it is coming to this, I am not sending her alone."

"Send Deidara and Sasori along with her. They will do well on this mission, even though it is not their beast to deal with. Just make sure that the two know she is capable of fighting for herself if it comes to that. The last thing she needs is someone stealing her chance to grow. Her old team never gave her that chance, and it is their fault she is how she is now."

"Tell me, why do you care, Madara?"

"Think of it as me helping the needy."

"Since when do you care for those in need?"

"Since one of those people became part of my organization. We need no weak links, and she has the potential to be one of the best. I won't simply let it go to waste."

I had a feeling that Madara had a bit more to his reasoning. I couldn't tell completely, his hidden face making me unable to pick any hints form his expression. I felt a bit protective of Sakura, and I didn't like how Madara was suddenly entering her life like he was. She was probably frightened of him. I have gotten used to being in his presence, but for someone in a state such as the one Sakura was in, she probably felt like a small mouse in a snake cage every time he walked into the same room as her.

Sighing, I pulled a folder from my cluttered desk. I gazed at all the things on top of my desk, and wondered if I would ever clean it up. Probably not, I concluded. Focusing back on the folder, I began to read through file closely. I wanted to know ever single detail of this mission before I gave it to her.

**Sasori**

I looked down at my hands, frowning. I rubbed my hands together a bit, feeling the wear of todays work in the joints of my fingers. I had spent most of my day repairing my puppets, like I did any day I wasn't on a mission. But, now with this new body of mine, I could actually feel the consequences for spending all day holed up in my room. The strain of tinkering with small parts and splinters left my hands aching and slightly raw, their surface having been handling rough materials most of the day.

Deidara suddenly entered my room, causing a bright flood of light to be released. I narrowed my eyes, straining against the sudden changed.

"What do you want?" I asked dully, blinking slightly to try and adjust.

"We have a mission, yeah," Deidara said, holding a file out to me," I need to go get Sakura while you read this."

My eyes narrowed on their own accord, "She is coming along?"

Deidara sighed, "She can't even remember what she did, let it go, Danna, yeah."

I raised an eyebrow, "Last I checked, when you believed I was dead you wanted to rip her throat out, brat."

He shrugged a little, and walked out of the room. I glared at his retreating figure, before burying myself in the mission we were given. My eyes flickered slightly in surprise. This wasn't a mission I thought they would give her. I read over the file a bit more, and snorted at Pein's hand written explanation to let her fight if it came to violence. Like we would let her just sit there and be dead weight.

Sighing loudly, I couldn't help but think that this was just a disaster waiting to happen.

**Sakura Haruno**

We had been traveling for a few hours now, after Deidara had come to me to explain that we had a mission. I wasn't told much about it, only that we were going to go check up on one of the tailed beasts. It was originally Itachi and Kisame's tailed beast, but they were on another mission and it was time to check up. It wouldn't be a kidnapping mission, to technically it was still Itachi's and Kisame's. We were just doing their check up for them, I guess.

Deidara had created a large bird for us the ride on, made out of the clay he uses. Once we got close to the home of the tailed beast we would have to walk, so that we wouldn't be noticed so much. To enter the village we would have to go under a henge, and disguise ourselves at least slightly. For some reason Sasori was extremely stern with me when he explained that we would have to use a henge, and I didn't understand why.

Sasori. He still seemed to have a problem with me. He didn't talk to me, but almost glared at me from the corners of his eyes when I spoke with Deidara. I tried to keep myself focused away from his attitude, wishing that he would just tell me what his problem was with me. I knew that not all people would like me, but it bothered me that Sasori seemed to have no reason.

"How long will it take us to get there if we're flying?" I questioned Deidara, who pondered for a bit.

"It will take us at least a couple of days, three at the most," Sasori's cold voice answered, and I shivered a bit.

Deidara frowned at Sasori slightly, before turning back towards the front of the bird, "He's right, yeah. We don't really go there often, but when we do get sent there that's how long it normally takes, yeah."

Nodding, I closed my eyes lightly. The wind brushed my face and played with my hair, my Akatsuki hat discarded. I felt at peace with the light movements of the bird, and my senses began to fall. Soon, I found myself drifting. Teetering on the edge of sleep, I could hear Deidara's and Sasori's breathing along with the sounds of the sky we soared through. My lips curved, and I slowly fell asleep.

* * *

We had taken a break at a small village the next day. We got some food and got clean. we didn't stay long after that, and didn't get back on the bird. Deidara shrunk it with his chakra, and let it explode in a small puff. I laughed a little at the small explosion, and followed Sasori as he began to walk away form the village.

"We need to put up our henges now," He instructed, "Incase anyone sees us walking towards the village."

Sealing my Akatsuki gear into a scroll, I altered my appearance with some simple hand signs. My hair curled into thick ringlets around my head, their color turning into a bright bronze color. My emerald colored eyes shifted, darkening to a deep forest green. My skin color went from being the color of snow, to a very light tan dusted upon its surface. I had been wearing a red tank top, a black kimono over it. I wore black shorts underneath, seeing as the kimono stopped at mid-thigh. The shorts went down to my knees, and covering the rest of my legs were knee high ninja sandals.

Deidara's hair shortened, but the bangs he kept covering his eye stayed. The blond color darkened to a honey color, his single showing eye becoming a deep chocolate color. His skin turned lighter a few shades, no longer the tan color I was used to seeing him with. He wore a long sleeve fishnet shirt, a short sleeved black shirt over that. The standard ninja pants and sandals cover the rest of him.

Sasori's hair lengthened slightly, becoming more wild. The color turned a dark navy blue, the old crimson color being washed away. His caramel eyes turned a dark brown, a few shades darker then Deidara's new eye color. His skin tanned, the loss of his pale skin a large change for my normal remembrance of his appearance. He wore a fish net tank top, a black vest over that. The vest was opened slightly at the top. His feet and lower half adorned the same clothing as Deidara.

"Here," Sasori held a headband out to me.

It was an Amegakure head band, with no scratch in the middle of it. He and Deidara switched their normal headbands for Amegakure headbands also. I tied mine around my left leg, and couldn't help but wonder what village I had belonged to before my mind was erased. Did I have a scratch through its symble, the sign of someone who had severed all ties from those inhabiting their old home, or had I still been loyal to them?

"Lets go," Sasori said, his voice almost not fitting his knew appearance.

I nodded, and walked after him, slinging my rucksack over one of my shoulders. I had my kunai pouch tied to my right leg, full of the weapons I would need. I had another pouch tied to my waist, full of any medical equipment we might need. This mission was a few days long, not just a quick visit, so I didn't know how much I would need if we were to get in some trouble.

Deidara looked at me, and his hand found one of my new curls. He pulled it lightly, and watched as it sprung back into place. Chuckling, he did it once more and I glared at him slightly.

"You should style your original hair like this, Sakura, yeah. You would be so fun to play with," He said, his tone teasing.

Sasori twitched a little ahead of us, also seeming to notice the hidden meaning in Deidara's words.

I pushed Deidara to the side as we walked, "And you call Tobi a pervert."

He grinned a little, and I walked a bit ahead of him. Sasori didn't seem to mind, oddly enough. Soon, I was walking right beside him with Deidara on the other side of me. We walked along the side of the road, and I could see the outlines of buildings begin the show on the horizon. It was getting close to noon as I saw the gate come closer, and soon we were on the villages doorstep, talking to the guards.

Sasori manage to get them to let us in, saying that we were on a mission for Wave and wanted to rest here for a while. The guard smiled at us as the gates opened, and he spoke to us in a proud tone, "Welcome to Konohagakure."

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**Piper: Like I said, I'm so sorry it's late. I feel bad for making you guys wait so long.**

**Please, review.**


	15. Knowing

**Piper: Hi Guys!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 15 - Knowing

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**Sakura Haruno**

We passed many buildings and alleyways as we walked along the crowded streets. We kept to our selves, not looking into anyones eyes that searched over ours figures. Deidara had explained to me before we got inside the village that even though they weren't at war, Konoha and Ame didn't have the strongest relationship. Ame didn't have a strong relationship with any of the countries. Some were its allies, but even then no one seemed to get along. Deidara explained that it was because Ame didn't spit out all its secrets, not even to its allies, and that automatically made the countries more hesitant towards the village.

A familiar smell rose into my nose, and I felt a pressure against my skull. Blinking in panic, I feared that an attack like I had before would reappear. I pushed the feeling away forcefully, fearing to have a spontaneous break down in front of not only Sasori and Deidara, but the whole village. People might get suspicious if a wandering ninja suddenly breakdowns in the middle of their village.

We passed a ramen stand, the sign out front labeled: Ichiraku. Sasori turned into the stand, Deidara and I following. Once inside, I noticed a large group of people on the other side. My senses prickled, and my head throbbed. I pushed it back as the three of us sat at the bar, ordering the ramen of our choices. Sasori stirred his chopsticks in his soup counter clockwise, a sign to us. Our target was in the room, and we were to listen in on the large group off to the side, judging by what direction he stirred.

I lifted some noodles to my mouth, closing my eyes in what looked like content but was actually to try and listen more intently.

"Hey, Teuchi! More ramen over here!" A voice yelled to the man behind the counter.

He chuckled, and began to prepare a bowl, "Right away."

"I'm only going to pay for one more bowl," A calm voice spoke to the first, sounding a bit jaded about getting stuck with the bill.

"Aww, c'mon Kakashi-sensei, I haven't even had that many bowls!" The first voice complained.

"You're going to get fat, dickless." An odd, emotionless voice toned.

"Shut up, Sai!"

"He's right," A new voice said, deep and void of anything in tone.

"You, too, Sasuke!"

My head throbbed, and I scrunched my face in pain. I hid it behind my new, long hair and faced my bowl. It was hard to concentrate on the voices talking and pushing away the pressure. My happy feelings were cracking, and I was becoming more upset as my feeling continued to push. I began to build a wall, molding my face into a mask of what it should be expressing. I built myself a mental sheild, confuse about whether I wanted my memories or if I didn't.

"Thank you for our meals," Sasori told the man behind the counter, standing.

Deidara pulled me up gently by my arm, snapping myself from my mind. I allowed him to lead me from the stand before he released my arm. I followed them silently, listening as Deidara and Sasori began to talk about finding a hotel. The group we had been listening to were still back at the ramen stand.

Sasori leaned over, and suddenly whispered in my ear, "Pay attention. We need to make sure we analyze everything well for this mission. It may not be a capture mission, but the date of the capture mission depends on our reports. Keep your head out of the clouds."

Ashamed that he noticed my internal struggle, I ducked my head. Tobi would be as disappointed as his real, limited emotions would allow. I can't even keep a battle with myself, to myself.

Just as I was about to beat myself up some more, and palm touched my new bronze locks. I looked up, surprised to see it was Sasori, and not Deidara. He ruffled my hair a bit, making the curls knock into each other. His now brown eyes looked at me blankly, but didn't shield themselves away from me like they normally did.

I blinked slightly, and he pulled his hand from my head. Deidara smiled at me as both he and Sasori turned back, beginning to walk towards the hotel a few feet ahead. I blinked again, before smiling a little and running to catch up to them. They let me slide between them, Sasori not seeming extremely bothered by my presence.

Maybe, he didn't hate me as much I believed.

**Sasori**

I handed the woman behind the counter my money, watching as she batted her eyelashes at me. I ignored her flirting, feeling Sakura and Deidara's presence a few paces behind me. They were talking about the differances in weather between Ame and Konoha, which was mostly a front. It was to keep up the appearance of normal travelers, which I doubted would stick long.

Someone was bound to noticed that we were using a henge. Even though it didn't take much chakra to create a henge, keeping it up for a long time did diminish chakra levels. Not by to much, but enough to be noticed by the local ninja. I didn't know if we would be confronted about it or not. If were were, then we would most likely leave the village as quickly as we could without having to reveal that we were Akatsuki.

After my puppet body's death, at the hand of my pink haired team mate, the renown of the Akatsuki had began to rise. More faces of the Akatsuki had been revealed, which caused a bit of panic in the nations. If we were to be identified here in Konoha it would be harder to keep our location a secret. The reason of that being that if we were to be recognized here in Konoha they would be able to get different methods of tracking on us.

I took my room key from the woman, and led my team up the stairs. I could feel my old body's killer next to me, feel her chakra even though most of it was concealed. I could feel her presence, familiar to the same one that had danced on the battle field, destroying my puppets with such determination. I know that she could not remember her win, or my defeat, but I could not help the hostility that filled me when I saw her face.

It was diminishing, however. Most of the emotion's weakening was coming from no where, but I found myself beginning to not care if she was around me. It didn't bother me as much now that she didn't remember her win over me, but at one point in time she will remember everything. Then she will be able to gloat, and I will go back to brushing her off once more.

**Sakura Haruno**

I lay down on my bed, Sasori and Deidara laying on their beds across the room from mine. It wasn't that big a distance, however, for the room was smaller. There was an isle way between the sets of beds, four beds total. Two on each side of the isle, and on the other side of the room was a door to the bathroom and a small living room.

There was a window on the bed side of the room, with no curtains to keep the moonlight from spilling in. I lay on my side, smothering my face into the pillow so that the light wouldn't reach my eyes. I bid my team mates goodnight and began to fall asleep on the surprisingly soft mattress. I curled my body, wrapping myself in the sheets. Sleep over came me, but with it came the nightmares.

As I slept the darkness wrapped its self around my mind, suffocating me in with it bleak strands. My heart rate began to speed up as my fear level increased. I could hear voices, screaming. I could feel crimson around me; blood. I could feel the pain of watching someone I loved die. I could feel the heat of the sparks that flew from clashing blades, the sparks flashing through the dark. I could feel warm arms wrap around me, and run me to safety but I could not remember who. I could hear myself crying, my voice premature and young.

A few hours after I had fallen asleep, I jerked awake as I though I had been suddenly falling. My face was stained with tears, more of them falling from eyes. My body felt cold, my bones rattling. My body shook with them, and I could find enough will power to calm myself down. My breath came out in short gasps, as cold waves of fear tumbled down my spine.

"Sakura, yeah?" The sleepy voice of my now honey haired team mate asked, his voice coated in sleep.

"I'm fine," I could only whisper, "Go back to sleep, Deidara."

He didn't follow my instructions, sitting up instead. The moon shined in his fake chocolate colored eyes, showing their emotions swimming inside. He ran his fingers through his bangs, his body hunched slightly.

"Was it another nightmare, yeah?" He questioned, and I flinched slightly.

It wasn't hard to remember the first night the nightmares had come. In fact, the memory came so easy that I sometimes found myself thinking about it accidently, spoiling my emotions.

My silence answered his question, and he leaned forward a bit in his bed, "Are you okay, yeah?"

I nodded, my body still quivering like a leaf on a limb, "I will be."

He pulled back his covers, moving his legs over the side. He got up from his bed, and sleepily slugged over to my bed. He sat on the edge of it, just trying to collect his sleepy thoughts. There was another dip in the bed, and I turned slightly to see Sasori sitting on the other side of me. I blinked at him a little, watching as he narrowed his eyes at me slightly.

"We are your team mates. If something is wrong, you are supposed to tell us so that we can help," He stated, but still somehow managed to sound like his normal self while doing so.

The thought of Sasori actually caring crossed my mind, but I shook it away. If I was to stressed, it could hinder the team. I managed to convince myself that was the only reason he was bothering to ask me to spill my guts out to him. Which, I did. I explained to them the bits and pieces that plagued my sleep, but somewhere through my explaining I had fallen asleep.

* * *

When I woke that morning, there were two other bodies present in my small bed. A million thoughts raced through my mind, and I wasn't able to completely grasp any of them due to my awaking. I blinked groggily, trying to restore my vision. I felt the body on my right shift slightly. Their arm moved above my head, having been cast above it during sleep. The head on my shoulder began to shift, and I knew that all of us were awake now.

Deidara lifted his body up, looking at me with a hooded eye. He grinned lazily, "I could get used to waking up like this, yeah."

I moved my leg sharply, hitting his stomach and pushing him off the bed. He hit the floor with a loud _thump_, and I began to laugh. My body shook Sasori the rest of the way away, making him look at me with his eyes clouded with sleep. He looked from me, to Deidara, who was complaining on the floor, and shook his head at us.

Normally, I would feel quiet weird for waking up in this situation, but I knew it meant nothing. We hadn't done anything, but accidently fall asleep. It bother me to much I was beginning to care for the two of them like they were my older brothers. Deidara may care for me as a sister, but I didn't know about Sasori. He seemed alright, but I couldn't tell if he really liked me enough to consider me family. I don't think we were that close, but the fact that they were Akatsuki made it feel like they were close to me.

I scratched my head, my slightly frazzled bronze curls bouncing with the movement. I got up from the bed and got read for the day. I was the first to take a shower, and made sure to be quick about it. I knew that Sasori didn't like waiting, and it was a well known fact around the Akatsuki base that Deidara liked to take his time in the bathroom.

When all of us were dressed, we headed downstairs to the small restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel. We got some simple breakfast in our stomachs, and headed out. The three of us subtly expanded our chakra's around, searching for our targets location in the village. Deidara was the one to locate it, stationed in one of the training fields.

We followed it slightly, pretending to be interested in training. When we got their, Deidara carefully pointed out who our target was from one of the very few groups training. It was a blond boy about my age. His skin was lightly tan, and he was a little shorter then Deidara. He was clad in black and orange, oddly enough. His hair was in a bouquet of spikes on his head, their color a bright blonde. When we got close enough, I got to see that his eyes were a shockingly familiar blue.

His comrades were four other males. One was a tall one, with silver hair and most of his face cover by a mask and his head band. The other was an extremely pale boy with a shirt that was cut off, showing his stomach. Another was a brown haired man with an odd stare. The last one was a taller boy, that also seemed to be around my age. He was pale, with hair shaped in odd spikes pointing in one direction. He seemed to have an odd feeling around him.

As we walked past their training field, I noticed the silver haired man watching us. We continued on, passing by them. But a voice stopped us, the blonde one.

"Hey, are you guys new here?"

We stopped, and turned. He had moved a bit closer to us, a few feet away. My head was throbbing, a skull splitting pain hitting me harshly.

"We are stopping here on our way to Wave," Sasori told him.

His blue eyes sparkled, "So, you're from Amegakure?"

"Yes, we are," I told him, and something flashed in his and his groups' faces.

I looked at them curiously, watching the blonde's face begin to fall a bit. I leaned towards him a bit, "Is something wrong?"

He looked up at me, his blue eyes piercing into my soul, and my head felt like it was about to fall from my shoulders, "You just... You sound like someone we know."

My heart rate sped up a little.

The dark haired one with the oddly shaped hair stepped forward a little, his dark eyes falling upon me. When they looked at me, I felt like my soul was being constricted. His stare unnerved me, and the pain began to turn so violent that I was practically forced to start sending small threads of chakra up to my skull.

The dark one spoke, his voice the same one from the night before, "You sound a lot like her..."

He smirked a little bit, a sinister twist to his lips. He walked forward, making Deidara and Sasori tense at my sides. Once he got close enough, he leaned forward, his breath fanning my face. I leaned back as he began to speak.

"You know, Sa-ku-ra, if you wanted to hide from us you could've at least tried to change your chakra."

My eyes flashed up to meet his, "How do you know my name?"

Everything stood still, and suddenly everything seemed to become a lot more complicated.

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**Piper: I'm a bad person for leaving you with this cliff hanger, lol.**

**Please review!**


	16. Volcanic

**Piper: Sorry guys, but updates are going to be a bit spaced for a little! I'm getting close to the end of my school year and I need to raise some grades. But I will not be stopping the story, because I promised myself the I would get back into writing like I used to be. So, here ya go!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 16 - Volcanic

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**Sakura Haruno**

I felt Deidara's fingers brush my arm, and I quickly pulled it from his grasp. I stared up at the raven haired male in front of me, who was looking at me with a different kind of look in his eyes. They pierced my soul, and something inside my mind desperately tugged. It rose up, pushing against the mental barriers keeping it from being remembered. A white hot flash of pain pierced my skull, and I summoned some chakra to try and ebb it away.

"What kind of game do you think you're playing?" He questioned, his voice a velvety monotone.

My tolerance was shattering like a cracked mirror against the wind, and my eyes were setting into a hard glare. The raven haired male seemed a bit taken back on my expression towards him, but he hid it well behind a mask that had a long age to it. His mask further irritated me, because it brought up more memories. They pushed and pushed, setting gasoline pain alight. The pain could almost bring me to my knees, if I wasn't nursing it with little patches of cooling medical chakra.

"I'm not playing a game, but you seem to be fucking messing with me," I spat coldly, allowing Deidara to touch my arm comfortingly.

"Sakura?" The blonde murmured, and my eyes shot towards him.

My anger began to dissipate as the fire in my skull grew, as I looked upon his face. The expression he used, something about it made my emotions soften. Like this was something that had happened before. It was too much for my chakra, the pain so intense that it seemed to swallow any chakra that I was trying to force upon it. The seal on my back began to burn with the same intensity of my brain, and I was surprised that I wasn't surrounded by physical fire.

"You don't know who we are?" He questioned, and looked at me with his bright blue eyes.

"No, I don't!" I said, my voice rising a bit more.

Sasori shifted behind me, and spoke sternly, "It's time we left."

I tried to turn and look at him, but I couldn't. The pain had worsened, and I shut my eyes tightly. My control slipped, and my true appearance appeared in a puff of smoke, my henge gone. My breathing was short and labored, fire licking up my spine. I heard my name called, by two different voices. My mouth opened wide, but I couldn't tell if I was screaming or not. The pain was so hot, it was cold. I couldn't see, but I could feel someone's arms around me. Everything was spinning and twirling, life suddenly becoming a free fall through air.

Screams. I could hear screams now. They were most likely my own, having reached such a volume that they broken through the screeching present in my ears. Pain, Fire, and Ice now replaced the blood in my veins, flowing through every inch of my being. My insides were a maelstrom of pain, and I could hardly feel anything anymore. My senses were stripped from my being, and I swallowed by the darkness in my weakness.

Did I even have a body anymore? I couldn't feel it. I couldn't smell, couldn't physically feel, but I could taste. I could taste blood. Did that mean I still had a body, or was this just a sign of death? I couldn't tell. The only thing I could feel was fire, and darkness. Both elements swallowed me, ate at me. They created a hell inside of me, forming a demon that no one could fight. The demon would stand, raise its blade, and repeatedly pierce my body with its pain.

My mind began to create the image, painting it. A monstrous being, cloaked in darkness yet tinted with the shade of crimson. The blade was crafted from broken hearts and crushed souls, the perfect tool for the image of my inner demon.

Suddenly, something seemed to shatter. The demons chest ripped open, light spilling out of his ribcage. The darkness around me began oozing light, and the pain and pressure began to lift. The darkness broke, raining around my like shattered glass. Everything seemed lighter, and there was a warmth I could not describe. It wasn't like the fire that only burned and blackened, but a warmth that covered and comforted.

My mind, once so empty and weak, began to fill. Memories flashed through my eyes, and I could feel something wet on my face. My face, the face that I could feel, the body that didn't get maimed by darkness. Tears fell from my eyes, the feeling fresh and new. The memories flew by slowly, and knowledge filled me. More knowledge then I thought I had. The past came with its gifts; emotions. Some resented, and some welcomed with open arms.

I drifted, and lost myself in the past. I cried, I laughed, and I got angry. The memories shown were so fresh, so familiar, that every time one was shown I had an expression to go with it. It was like being blind, and suddenly seeing everything you missed. I sank deeper and deeper in my memories, every second more relief to the previous pain that had plagued my body.

**Sasori**

We needed to leave, had to leave. The Leader had told us to take care of Sakura, and things were crashing down fast. We hadn't collected much information on the Kyuubi, but not taking care of Sakura would go against Leader's orders. Thinking about failing the mission irritated me, almost as much as waiting for someone did. I voiced my order, and waiting for the pink haired brat to turn and protest.

He body twitched, but she didn't turn. I raised an eyebrow at her insubordination, ready to raise my voice at her. I didn't get the chance to, as her body suddenly crumpled forward. Deidara quickly caught, he along with two of the men from the Konoha nin calling her name in panic. Only a few seconds after her faint, the pinkette let out the most pain filled scream my ears had ever heard. Her body twisted wildly in Deidara's grip, strangling to get away.

"Deidara, get us out!" I commanded quickly, taking the pink haired hellion into my arms.

Our henges dropped, and the Konoha nin instantly acted. I summoned some of my newly repaired puppets, and cast them out. It was hard to work with one of my arms struggling to cradle the protesting body of Sakura, and I girt my teeth in frustration. I could hear Deidara working on an escape bird along with defending somewhere behind, the ground shaking violently from his art exploding all around.

I jumped back as the Kyuubi container rain forward at me, his features looking more defined. His anger was leaking out, and I could feel hints of the Kyuubi in his chakra. I narrowed my eyes, scoffing at his fighting stance, and cast out more puppets in his direction. Sakura's screams had gotten louder, so loud they almost covered up the sound of Deidara's bombs. Her voice was cracking slightly, but it managed to maintain its volume.

"Sasori, yeah!" Deidara called, and I jumped backwards.

The ground beneath my feet was replaced by hardened clay, the bird Deidara created swooping down to pick me up. I pulled the strings of my puppets, and managed to seal them back within their scrolls. I lay Sakura upon the birds surface, and some of the clay molded over the middle section of her body. It kept her from struggling to much, but it didn't stop her from screaming loudly.

"Do not take us in the direction of the base, it will give them leads. Take us South, and we'll shake them there," I commanded, and Deidara nodded.

The bird swooped, looping around the village walls and dodging multiple hand weapons thrown in its direction. I knelt down next to Sakura, and began sorting through her back. Once I found her medical equipment, I inserted one of my poisons into a spare syringe I took from her pack. I flicked it, before inserting the needle into her shaking arm.

Her volume decreased over a matter of seconds, and her body fell asleep. Satisfied, I stood back up and examined the ground below us. I could see ninjas dotting the trees, following the bird the best they could.

"What did you give her, un?" Deidara questioned, a certain hint of emotion in his voice.

"She's just sleeping, brat," I said gruffly, watching as more ninja began to fall behind.

Deidara nodded slightly, still looking a bit nervous. He checked down below, and frowned at the followers. He slipped his hands into his pockets, and pulled it out with the mouths full of clay. They chewed thoroughly before spitting out several coin sized spiders. He flung them down below, and seconds later several explosions shook the forest, toppling a few trees and causing a few smoke clouds to rise.

I sighed slightly, and looked down at the calm pinkette at my feet. A trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, trailing down the side of her chin. Frowning, I knelt down once more and began to check up on her relaxed form.

**Pein**

I sat in my office, filing through mission scrolls and folders. Madara stood across the room, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest and eyes closed. He had been that way for quite a while, just standing there with his eyes closed. It had been a while since he shifted or anything, and it was almost like he was in a trance of some sort. I was suspicious of his actions, but I decided to leave him be so that I could get some of my work finished.

As I was finishing up a scroll, he opened his eyes. He lifted his head, which displayed the smirk on his lips. I looked at him, not trusting his sudden expression in the least. He straightened up a bit, rolling his shoulders. Under my questioning gaze, his smirk widened and he finally explained his odd behavior, "I've been watching our little Cherry Blossom, and the seal has been broken."

My heart rate increased slightly, but I kept every emotion aside from anger from my features, "What?"

His smirks twisted more, slightly sinister, "I placed a little mark of my own on my apprentice. One that she is unaware about, of course. It allows me to access many things, and I could feel her seal break all the way from here."

"You sent her there on purpose," I accused, my anger flaring.

He looked at me, his face twisting at my lack of respect, "Yes, Pein, I did send her there on purpose. Your method of slow and steady wasn't working, it was time for something to change. If the seal didn't break on this mission I would've went in and force it to break myself. Breaking the seal myself would've caused her more pain, surely you wouldn't want that?"

"If you would've given her more time the seal would've faded away, not break," I argued, knowing I was stepping into hot waters challenging the true leader of this organization.

"I know very well what the fragments of a broken seal can do, Pein. Do not talk back to me any more, this is over," He commanded, and with a puff of smoke he was gone.

I grasped the edge of my desk, my grip so tight that the wood was crushed in my hands. I closed my eyes in an attempt to calm myself, and began to think back on the old days. I thought back on what Konan would have done in a situation like this, but, then again, if Konan were still here why would there ever be a situation like this?

**Sasori**

We were flying smoothly now, the wind calm and relaxing. There were no more ninja following as far as I could sense, and Deidara didn't seem to feel anything either. I was still checking up on Sakura condition, almost unable to check on anything. There was two different kinds of strange chakra invading her own. One was old and fading away, while one was fresh and strong. I felt around with my chakra, looking for the new chakra's location.

Frowning slightly, I pulled up Sakura's sleeve and saw an odd tattoo on her bicep, the designs and characters shining an odd silver color. I reached forward to touch it, but the chakra suddenly expanded. The tattoo flashed brightly, and began to radiate an intense heat. I quickly pulled my hand back.

Something was going on, something odd.

* * *

**Piper: I feel extremely happy with this, I hope all of you feel the same way! Next Chapter: Some of Sakura's memories!**

**Please Review!**


	17. Flash

**Piper: Sorry for the long spaces between updates, guys. But, school is almost out and then we should be back in business with updates every week. I do promise that I will get you one today, and one tomorrow.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 17 - Flash

* * *

**Sakura Haruno**

_"Mommy?" I questioned, peeking around the corner._

_My mother turned from the sink, her blue eyes reaching me from the distance. They were filled with warmth and comfort, their gaze soft yet sparked with a natural fire inside._

_She bent down on one knee, and I toddled towards her on unsteady feet. As I was crossing the room I voiced my question with the accent of a small child, "Where is Daddy, Pein, and Konan?"_

_I had woken up from my nap, only to find three members of the house missing._

_"They went training, my Cherry Blossom," My mother told me, placing her hands on my shoulders once I was close enough._

_My stomach turned, and I stomped my little foot on the ground, "That's not fair! I want to be a ninja, too!"_

_She began to laugh, the sound like a soft melody. I puffed out my cheeks, not amused by her laughter. The expression on my face only made her laugh more, and she hugged me close to her. Despite my anger, I couldn't refuse a hug. I wrapped my arms around her neck, and she stood. I wrapped my tiny legs around her waist, and she balanced me on her hip._

_"You are to young to start training right now, little one," She told me, facing the window above the sink._

_Light spilled in from the window, and a bunch of small, flying specks caught my eyes. I removed one hand from around my mothers neck. I reached forward carefully, setting my sights on a particular speck. I hovered my palm above, before swishing my hand and clenching my fist. Mother watched me, amused, as I held my hand close to my face. I opened my palm, and frowned. There was nothing inside._

_A sudden noise made me perk up my head, and I began to struggle, "They're home! They're home!"_

_Mother set me down on my feet, and I ran for the front door. I grabbed onto the first pant leg I saw. I buried my face into the persons knee for a few seconds, before grinning up at them._

_Pein looked down at me, one eyebrow raised. His spiky orange hair was gathering around his face, I noticed, and knew that sometime soon he would ask Mother to cut his hair again._

_"Where's my hug, Cherry Blossom?" A familiar voice boomed from the doorway._

_I tore away from Pein and ran for my father. He chuckled, and caught me as I ran for his leg. He threw me into the air, making me shriek and giggle. He caught me a few feet from the floor, and swung me in a circle. I held onto the hem of his vest, smiling up at him as he stopped his motion. He kissed my temple, and looked at me with his bright green eyes._

_"Did you miss us?" He asked, and I glared at him._

_"You didn't bring me training with you!" I complained, kicking my feet against his side._

_He looked at me, amused, and suddenly turned me upside down by my feet. My pants went loose around my ankle, and I struggled to get out of my fathers grip. I heard laughter, and looked around to see what was so funny. Mother, Pein, and Konan were all laughing at me, as I struggled. I frowned at their at them, and folded my arms over my front._

_"It's not funny!" I pouted, and my head began to hurt slightly._

_My mother motioned for my father to put me upright, "Alright, dear."_

_Father lifted me back up, into his arms, and the pressure in my head began to ease up, "I'm sorry, Cherry Blossom, but you are to young to start training right now."_

_I looked at him, determined, "I bet I can beat you!"_

_He raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"_

_I nodded, "Yeah?"_

_"Before you start fighting, can I have my hug, Cherry-Cherry?" Konan's voice rang from behind._

_My mind clicked in realization and I jumped from my father's arms. I ran to Konan, wrapping my arms around her, "I'm sorry, Kon-Kon, I didn't mean to forget you! I'm really sorry!"_

_She laughed, holding me close, "It's alright!"_

_I smiled at her, and tugged on her sleeve, "We're gunna make some more origimi later, aren't we?"_

_"It's origami, Cherry-Cherry, and sure, if you want to," She said, her amber eyes shining at me._

* * *

_Smoke filled the air. It slithered like a snake, dancing through the air. The smell of it burned my nostrils, and my eyes were watering. It rose off of the stove, and I stared at it with wide eyes. I didn't know what to do. I only wanted to cook like mommy did, but mommy's food didn't smoke like mine was. I didn't know what to do. Mommy and Daddy were gone for the moment, Pein was out training, and Konan was in some other part of the house._

_"Sakura!"_

_Konan darted into the room and quickly turned off the oven. Smoke still rose, but it began to slow down as it began to cool. Konan took the pot I had placed on top of it with a hot pad, and looked at the contents inside. It was the only things I was able to reach in our fridge. Some carrots, a head of lettuce, and two sloppily cracked eggs._

_She quickly disposed of it, and by that time the smoke had almost completely stopped. I knelt down next to me, her eyes stern. My already watering eyes built up more pressure. I could feel the disappointment rolling off of her in waves._

_"Cherry-Cherry, what have Mother and Father told you?" She asked, her soft voice holding a tone I only heard when I was a bad girl._

_I looked at my bare feet, wriggling my toes, "To not play with the stove... But, Kon-Kon, I only wanted to cook you and Pein supper since Mommy and Daddy are gone! I thought I could cook like Mommy..."_

_Her eyes softened, and she smiled softly at me, "If you promise me that you won't play with the stove any more, you can help me make supper."_

_My head snapped up, and I widened my eyes, "Really?"_

_She nodded, the pretty blue strands of hair that didn't reach her bun bouncing. I squealed happily, wrapping my arms around her neck. I made my promise, and made it extra special by making it a pinkie promise. Konan taught me to never break my pinkie promises, ever!_

_Konan began to get out the cooking utensils while I got the ingredients from the fridge. Anything I could not reach, she would grab for me. We loaded the counter with everything we would need for our dinner, and we got cooking._

_It was an hour or two later, and I was covered in flour from all the cooking we had done. Konan and I had just finished setting the table and filling the plates, when a sudden voice from behind made me jump._

_"Sakura?"_

_I spun around, and saw Pein looking at me from the doorway. He looked worn from all his training, yet he still managed to give me the most confused face._

_"I made biscuits," I spouted, nodding my head in emphasis._

_He chuckled, and walked forward. Once close enough he ruffled my hair, making me puff out my cheeks. He looking at me thoughtfully, before he told me wisely, "If you keep puffing your cheeks out like that, they'll fall off your face."_

_I gasped, shocked, and covered my cheeks in an attempt to keep them attached._

_"Pein!" Konan hissed, swatting at his arm with a towel, "Don't tell her things like that!"_

_Blinking innocently, I looked at Konan with widened eyes, "Will my cheeks really fall off, Kon-Kon?"_

_She put her hand on my shoulder, glaring at Pein from the corners of her eyes, "No, Cherry-Cherry, they won't."_

_Pein put his hands up in defense when I sent a glare in his direction. I folded my arms across my front, waiting to hear a sorry come from his lips. When I only received a raised eye brow, I stomped my foot and yelled at him, "If you keep raising your eye brow, it'll stay like that, and then you'll be even weirder!"_

_Then, I ran from the kitchen. Konan's laughter could be heard throughout the house I ran, Pein only a few paces behind._

* * *

_It was my birthday today. My sixth one to be exact. Mommy had made me a cake, and we had all played some games. I didn't really have any friends from the village. Mommy taught me my education, and, along with Daddy, Konan, and Pein, she had began to teach me how to be a good ninja. Right now, it was time for me to open my presents. I was super excited, practically about to fall off my seat._

_"All right," Mommy laughed at my excitement, "Let's open present now."_

_"Oo!" Konan said, "Can I give her mine first?"_

_Mommy nodded, smiling, "Of course, sweet heart."_

_Konan jumped up from her seat and quickly made her way to my presents. She plucked two from the small pile, and brought them over to me. They were expertly wrapped in rainbow wrapping paper. At that stage in my life rainbow was my favorite color, because it was much to difficult to choose just one when they all looked so pretty. One was smaller than the other, but both supported silver bows on top._

_I grinned at Konan, and she motioned to the smaller one._

_"Open that one first," She told me, and I looked longingly at the big one._

_The big presents were always last..._

_Shaking my slight sadness, I carefully began to attempt a safe way to get around the paper. My dad made a face at me, and I looked at him._

_"Don't most kids enjoy ripping the paper?" He asked, sounding almost disappointed._

_To be honest, I just didn't want to hurt Konan's feeling by ripping the pretty paper she had chosen. I looked at her, and she grinned at me, saying out loud, "What're you waiting for? Rip it up!"_

_Grinning widely, I tore into the paper as fast I could. They all chuckled at me, and watched as I pulled a rather large coloring book and large package of markers from the paper. There were so many different colors and shades of markers, and the book was so big it practically made my head hurt. Konan knew just how much I loved coloring, and hated crayons._

_"Thank you!" I shouted, hugging Konan around the middle._

_She hugged back quickly, before nudging me towards the other present, "Open it!"_

_I began shredding paper like I had never before, and became irritated when I came to a tapped box. Everyone laughed at my frustration, and then my dad cut the tape with a kunai. I opened the box, and smiled widely. Inside was a travel bag, the perfect size for the coloring book and markers she got for me and more. I could take my colors and drawings any where now._

_After giving Konan another hug, Pein set down a single present for me. It was extremely bulgy. It was wrapped in a light green paper, with a bright pink bow on top. Once I got through the multiple layers of paper Pein had done as a joke, I got to the surprise inside. A doll was inside. It wasn't a fancy new doll, but a simple rag doll. I loved it._

_"Thank you so much!" I said, hugging him and the doll close._

_"Happy Birthday," He said back._

_I received two more presents. A kunai set from my father, which I was extremely excited about. From my mother I received a jewelry box. When the top was opened, and dancer was propped up and would begin to turn a circle, soft music playing from somewhere in the back of the box. I had gotten gifts from everyone, but there was still one more present left._

_Tilting my head curiously, I examined the last box. It was small, very small, and was wrapped in a simple silver wrapping._

_"What's that one?" I questioned, leaning forward slightly._

_Mother pushed it towards me, "It's a gift from all of us."_

_I took it into my hands and ripped off the paper. A black jewelry box was revealed. I opened it, and gasped. Inside was a simple, silver chain charm bracelet, with five charms on it. There was a sakura petal, an origami bird, a kunai, a rose, and a small sword. I pulled it from the box, and handing it my dad, begging him to help me fasten it on._

_Once it was around my wrist, I began to look at it more closely._

_"See? Each charm stands for one of us. The sakura blossom is you, Cherry-Cherry. The kunai is Pein, I'm the origami bird, Father is the sword, and Mother is the rose," Konan explained._

_It clicked in my head, and I smiled at all of my family. This was the best birthday I could've ever wished for._

* * *

_Darkness was every where. It infected my child mind, and poisoned me with fear. I held onto my mother as she, father, Pein, and Konan ran through the trees as fast as they could. Something was wrong, something terribly wrong. There were bad men chasing us. They would come from above, or from the sides. Mother would hide my face in her shoulder and cover my ears, and once I could look again the men were gone and we continued to move._

_No one would answer my questions. If I began to talk to much mother would shush me. Feeling very much scolded, I would quiet down and hide my face in her shoulder._

_Suddenly, we stopped. Four men jumped down from the trees. They were wearing similar head bands, a single music note imprinted in the metal. They began to speak with my father. When their voices began to raise, both sides drew their weapons. I gasped as they began to fight, and I shrieked, "Mommy!"_

_My father's sword clashed loudly with one of the other ninja's, and my stomach began to turn._

_She turned, and held me out to Konan, "Konan, take her!"_

_Konan took me into my arms, and I heard my father yell, "You two run! Now!"_

_Spinning on her heel, Konan jumped into the trees. I began to cry, and wail. Everything was happening to fast for me to understand. I was so terrified I couldn't stop myself from shaking like a leaf in the wind. I sniffled, seeing Pein a little bit away from us. His eyes were set hard, but they softened as they passed over my tear stained face. He attempted to comfort me with his eyes, but it just made me cry harder._

**Swoosh!**

_Konan gasped, and stopped short. A long sword embedded in the tree trunk, a few centimeters away from her face. So close, that a few pieces of her blue locks were cut. A burly man appeared on a tree branch above us, and my eyes widened in fear. He pounced at us, and I screamed as Konan stumbled back._

_Pein jumped forward, drawing a short sword from his belt. The man began to laugh, and my spine trembled. The man grabbed his sword from the tree as Konan jumped to get away. He and Pein jumped at each other, their swords clashing. The noise sounded out like lightning, and I found my heart thumping against my ribcage. Konan placed me on a branch, standing in front of me protectively._

_The man looked at us, grinned at Pein, and lunged towards us. Pein quickly maneuvered in front of us, blocking the man with his sword. They dueled, each trying to take a good cut out of the other. Suddenly, the man gained the upper hand. His sword cut through the air, aimed for Pein's neck._

_Konan screamed, and ran forward._

_"Pein!"_

_Time seemed to slow down around me. Konan ran from Pein, and thrust her arms out. She shoved Pein aside with all her might, and the sword came down upon her as fast as lightning. My breathing stopped, and Konan's blood splattered around me. I was covered in the blood of the one I considered my sister, and the sight of Konan's fallen body made me let out a blood curdling scream, covering up the sound of the man's laughter._

_Pein was laying on a branch a few feet away, his eyes was wide as the full moon. He looked at Konan's limp body, barely balanced on the branch it lay apon. His breathing began to speed up, before he was suddenly on his feet. He ran at the man as fast as his feet would carrying him, his sword in hand._

_"_You son of bitch!_" He yelled, and thrust out his blade._

_Taken by surprise at Pein's sudden strength, the man suddenly found his throat sliced by the thin piece of metal._

_I couldn't stop staring at Konan's glassy eyes. They looked at me, and I painfully longed for them to be filled with light once more. The hardest part for me was knowing that they never would. She could never laugh again, never smile. I would no longer have her as my adopted big sister, one of the few people I was able to look up to. And then and there, even as the small child I was, I knew that my parents had suffered the same fate. If they had not come to help us yet, then they were gone. Even then, however, I couldn't help but keep whispering for mommy._

_Pein quickly came over to me, and gathered me in his arms. I screamed into his shirt, crying so hard that my stomach hurt. I screamed for my mother, and held onto Pein as he ran his fingers through my hair comfortingly. After a while Pein sat down, holding me in his arms. I cried for what seemed like hours, before Pein let go of me and stood._

_"I have to do something, Sakura. I have to leave you for an hour tops, there's something I got to do. I will be within distance, so no one should hurt you, alright?" He asked, and I shivered._

_His voice was different, much different. It held a different tone. He wasn't the same Pein that he used to be._

_I nodded, and Pein walked over to Konan's body. His fists shook, and he ducked his head. I watched, eyes widening, as he knelt down. He closed her eyes, and picked her up. He slung her over his shoulder, and then left the area._

_Shivering, the darkness of night suddenly seemed much more monstrous. I had been growing out of my childish fear of the dark, but it all suddenly seemed to come back. Every noise reminded me of a monster, and the darkness gripped at me with it claws. I began to cry all over again, the weight of my losses and the fear of the dark taking ahold of my weak heart. I began to sob, twisting myself into a small ball._

_Suddenly, the leaves a few feet away shifted widely. My head snapped up, eyes widened with fear. My breathing sped up, and I scooted myself as close to the tree trunk as I could. Three men jumped from above, and my mouth opened in horror. I was to hoarse to scream, and all that came out was a squeak of air._

_"Stay away! You killed them! You took them away, leave me alone!" I shouted, tears falling from my eyes._

_One of the men tilted his masked face, the shape of the mask what seemed to be an eagle._

_"Shh, it's alright," One said in a feminine tone, their mask in the shape of a bunny._

_The person reached forward, and I reacted out of pure fear. I lunged forward, and sank my teeth into their gloved hand. The person hissed, and I felt something hit me on the back of my neck. I blanked out, the world fading to black._

* * *

_"She's to young for this!"_

_"Nonsense, if she's seen as much as the ANBU think that she has, then it will be done."_

_"We are taking away the memory that may be precious to her!"_

_"Not stealing it, but simply sealing it away along with the hardships of her past. She will be raised as a Konoha ninja. Her name is sewn into the back of her shirt. Her named is Sakura Haruno, and if the sealing goes correctly it should be one of the few normal things she remembers. Get Ayane and Hachiro for me."_

_"Yes, sir."_

* * *

_"Mom!" I called, peaking around the corner._

_My mother turned, smiling at me. Her chocolate brown eyes lit up at the sight of me. She was a civilian, and a stay at home mother. She was one of the best mother's I could ever have. I ran to her, and hugged her. She giggled, and ran her hand through my hair._

_"Hello, sweety," She cooed, her curly pink hair dangling in front of her face, "How was you're first day at the academy?"_

_"It was great!" I said, "I saw this really cute boy there... His name is Sasuke!"_

_Something flickered in her eyes, and she smiled, "Oh, yes, I've heard of him."_

_"What's this?" A deep voice said from behind._

_We both turned, and saw my father. His cropped blond hair shimmered in the sun light as he entered, the room, and he looked at me with dark blue eyes, "I thought we made a deal. No liking boys until you're thirty."_

_I groaned loudly at his antics, making my mother laugh._

* * *

_"So, you're paying for this, right, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked curiously, getting ready to dig into his fifth bowel of ramen._

_I rolled my eyes, but on the inside I was smiling slightly. He was such a goofball sometimes, but he was like a brother to me. Shaking my head, I turned to look at Sasuke._

_"You were really awesome training today, Sasuke!" I told him, hoping for the slightest hint that he might really care about my existence._

_He looked at me, and scoffed. My heart sank, and I looked at my bowl of ramen. I stirred it around a bit with my chopsticks, before taking some noodles into my mouth. I knew that I was just an annoyance to him. It didn't stop me from trying, though. I just wanted him to see that I wasn't just trying to get him to love me. I was trying to get him to trust me. I wanted to be someone who could help him, and help him understand. It didn't seem like I was getting any where these days._

_I looked up, and watched as Naruto continue to talk. He had been this whole time. I felt bad that I hadn't been listening, and I tuned into his words as he began to speak to Kakashi-sensei about the bill._

_Just as he asked, Kakashi disappeared. My eye twitched as both of my team mates managed to weasel away after he did. I sighed._

* * *

_I was alone. Sasuke left for more power, dancing to the tune Orochimaru was playing. The rest of Team 7 went looking for him, without me. My parents had been killed during their move to Sunagakure. The people I had cared about most were all gone. I could feel the others I had grown up with reaching out to me, trying to help. But I couldn't accept it. It hurt to much to think about what would happen if I was left alone again, if I trusted again._

_As I became more depressed over the days, I planned my leave of Konoha. I planned to severe my ties with them and find a different village to settle in. I wanted a new start, something to start everything over with. So I packed my things, and in the dead of night I began to make my way towards the gates of Konoha from my apartment._

_I hid my chakra the best I could and used all the stealth I had to keep myself quiet, but those qualities couldn't stop someone with a strong nose. As I got towards the gates, I was stopped._

_"Sakura?"_

_Turning, I saw someone I hadn't talked to in quiet a while. I smiled, fake as could be, and said, "Hello, Kiba. What're you doing out here so late?"_

_He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing me, "Akamaru wanted to go for a walk, now I know why."_

_Said dog whined, looking at me from around Kiba._

_My attitude faded, and I told him quietly, "You can't stop me."_

_Kiba shook his head, "Don't be like Sasuke, Sakura."_

_Eyes flashing, I spat, "I'll never be like him. I'm not leaving for power, Kiba. I'm leaving for a new start, and there's nothing you can do about it."_

_He scowled at me, but didn't do anything. He paused, before he threatened, "If you leave, I'm going to go get Tsunade. I can't let you do something you're going to regret."_

_Shaking my head, I casually slipped my hand into my pocket. I fiddled with something inside, and Kiba tensed. I pulled out a smoke bomb and set smoke into the air. I covered my mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and quickly exited the smoke. It was rigged with drugs that would soon put Kiba and Akamaru safely asleep. I could hear him call my name, cough a few times, and then the sound of him collapsing._

_I continued out of the village, and a few days later I found myself in combat with two Akatsuki members._

* * *

My fingers twitched. My fingers. I could feel my fingers. My arms, my toes, feet, and legs. Slowly coming to life, my body began to move to try and get the feeling back into me. I woke from a long sleep, I could tell. Everything felt a bit slow, and my brain was fuzzy. Not fuzzy like before, just fuzzy with sleep. Despite that, it felt as those a thousand pounds had been taken off of my brain. Realization came to me, and few tears leaked from my eyes. I remembered, I remembered everything.

"Sakura?"

My eyelids fluttered, and I slowly looked up. I took in the appearance of the person. Spiky orange hair, pale skin, pierced face. My brain clicked, and I shot up.

"Pein!" I shouted, tears of joy springing forth.

I hugged him close to me, and felt him slowly return the hug. I felt woozy from moving to fast, but I was to emotional to care. I cried into the shoulder of his cloak, unable to believe that he was here. I was unable to believe that I had forgotten him. I pulled away from him, and examined his face. Everything seemed the same about him, except that he was now older then.

"You've gotten so old," I commented, laughing through my tears,

His eyes widened almost unnoticeably, and his hands clasped my shoulders, "You remember me?"

Nodding, I told him, "I remember everything."

Pein nodded to himself, looking to the side. He pulled his sleeve up, exposing his wrist. Around his wrist was the most peculiar thing. It was the charm bracelet I got for my birthday so long ago. My heart almost stopped as he unclasped it, and then put it around my own wrist. Refreshed memories flew past me, and I held it close to me.

I looked up at him, "Where did you get this?"

"After I was unable to find you, I went back to our house," He explained.

My eyes snapped to his, "Is it still...there?"

I was almost to afraid to ask.

He nodded, "Yes."

Eyes widening, I took a wobbly step towards him, "I want to go!"

Pein examined my face slowly, before he nodded, "All right."

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**Piper: I think this was the longest chapter I've written. At least it is for this story, lol. I cried when I wrote about Konan, lol!**

**Please please please review and tell me what you think!**


	18. Shimmer

**Piper:** Summer is here! You know what that means? Regular updates, yay!

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 18 - Shimmer

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**Sakura Haruno**

Glancing around, I attempted to take everything in. It looked just like it did in my memories of it. It seemed to weird, being here knowing that Mother, Father, and Konan were not here. It broke my heart every time I turned around the corner, and didn't see my mother standing in the kitchen, keeping herself busy while off of her missions. In the living room, everything was off, because there wasn't a goofball father playing ninja with three young kids. This house no longer had a soul, or a heart. All it had were ghosts, ghosts of what once were.

Pein stood beside me the whole time. He had been silent most of the time, except for his encouragement when I froze up before the threshold of my old home a few minutes before. He didn't exactly hover around me, waiting for me to burst and he could comfort, he just kind of followed and looked around himself. It seemed the we were both lost down a long road at the moment. A long road of pain and sorrow, but it was something we would both get through. Something we _did_ get through. The pain of loss hurt, yes, but age of it had stilled some of the raw edges of the wound. I could live, and I knew Pein could, too, if he was still here today.

I looked up the stairs, and suddenly my heart was in my throat. I didn't know how much I could face. During my childhood I had been shattered. Not to be mistaken for broken, like two pieces of a toy coming undone. No, shattered. Shattering like taking a glass mirror and tossing it at the ground. It would shatter upon impact, and not all the little fragments would be found. I was shattered during child, shattered during my life in Konoha, but with the Akatsuki, I was intact.

Glancing towards the stairs, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't turn, but I smiled softly. Slowly, but surely, I began to move up the stairs. Pein's hand slid from my shoulders, but I could hear him walking behind me. we both reached the top of the stairs and reached the first door on the right. The first door on the right had once been my bedroom. I glanced at it, and reached for the knob.

Light was spilling in from the window. The curtains framing the window were lime green, with blue polka dots. The bed was underneath the window, something I loved as a child. If I couldn't sleep, I would open my curtains and look up at the stars while I lay upon my bed. Everything looked so amazing when I was a child. Each star, each glow, was something that boggled my little mind when I was young. The thing about that, though, was that I never asked what was behind the lights and glows. I didn't because I knew that it would take the magic out of it for me.

There was a wooden box off to one side of the room, many toys strewn around that area. On top of that box was a particular doll, one that I remember very well. The light in my eyes shimmered, and I made my way across the room. Every step I took was a memory, flashing behind my eyes. I could see through my child self's eyes, moving about the bed room, playing games. I landed on a memory of playing ninja with Pein and Konan when I stopped, and I looked down at the doll.

I took it in my hands, and its limp arms dangled over my hands. I could remember this doll very well, now. After it had been given to me on a certain birthday, it had easily become my favorite toy. It was my night companion, the person I talked to when no one else was around, and the side-kick to my adventures as a child.

Closing my eyes, I hugged the doll to my chest. Everything felt so heavy when I looked at it, when I held it. It was from a different time, a time were everything was innocent and perfect. It wasn't just a part of me, it was a part of Pein, Konan, Mom, and Dad. The memories attached to it had them in it just like it had me. I wanted to keep it, to remember, but some things just had to be let go.

Slowly, I place the small doll back on the box in a sitting position. I leaned it against the wall so that it wouldn't slouch, and I smiled at its button eyes. I turned, and saw Pein watching me from the door way. I gave a him a reassuring nod, and I moved from the room, asking him quietly, "Do you want to look at your room?"

He thought for a moment, before nodding.

**Konohagakure**

It was a silent. The day had died down, and night covered the streets of Konoha. There were glowing lights all along the streets, keeping most of the darkness at bay. The late night shops, restaurants, and stands were not quite as alive as they were during the day, but business was business. The late night money that came in was enough to keep the stores open both day and night.

One of the food stands that was open that night was only serving a few customers at the moment. A ninja team. An incomplete ninja team. They sat at the bar of the ramen stand, and none of them spoke. They were all in a deep thinking process. The event that had occurred had shaken up not only this team, but a lot of Konohagakure inhabitants. The pink haired beauty of Konoha, their Cherry Blossom, was with the Akatsuki. It was hard to decide how to take the situation.

"Sakura," Naruto paused, and then continued, "She really didn't recognize us."

Sasuke glared into his untouched bowl of ramen. He had went to Orochimaru, to get stronger. He was there for quite some time, and when he finally gotten a good plan on how to take out Orochimaru and go for his brother, he had been drug back home by his old team. Besides Sakura, he had noted at the time, along with how there were two new people in their midst. When he had questioned about the missing pinkette, his team admitted that they had left her behind in the village, and that they would see her when she got back.

They didn't.

Team Seven had questioned as much as they could with the old comrades they had grown up with, only to receive some dirty looks. Even the shy Hinata Hyuuga refused to talk to them about their missing team mate, seeming uncharacteristically angry about something. It confused them all. They hadn't been gone to long, where could she have went?

Finally, they went to the Hokage, and they learned the truth. Sakura left the village, and no search team had been capable of finding her. Any faint chakra trails ended abruptly at different ends, like someone had purposely done it so they wouldn't be found. Rain and wind had thrown any left over scents in garbage. When they had figured out that Kiba was the last one to talk to Sakura before she left, they went to him.

They had found him and his team mates resting after training near the training grounds. It hadn't been a good conversation.

* * *

_"Hey, Kiba!" The blond haired Kyuubi container of Team 7 called, waving his arms in the direction of the person he yelled for._

_He caught the attention of the whole team, and suddenly the air around them turned a bit sour. Kiba seemed to grit his teeth as they approached, and his fist quivered at his side. Shino tilted his mostly hidden face towards the ground, looking away from Team 7 with something almost akin to angry. It was hard to tell with the quiet bug lover. Hinata had looked up, caught the eyes of Naruto, and forced her blush away. Her crush hadn't diminished, but no amount of affection she had for him could make the wrong doings he and his friends did okay. Kurenai looked at Team 7's approach, and her eyes softened along with her mouth setting into a thing line._

_"What do you guys want?" Kiba growled slightly, and it was mirrored by the large white dog at his side._

_Naruto blinked slightly, taken back at the bad behavior. It was hard for him to see it, because these were his friends, and they had all been quite different towards him and the rest of team._

_"We wanted to ask you what happened that night, Kiba," Kakashi spoke, placing his hands into his pockets._

_Team 8 looked at each other slightly. Hinata turned away, and looked at the ground. A small frown was upon her lips, and her hands were unnoticeably clenched in her lap. Never, in all her life as the shy girl she was, had she wanted to hit something._

_Kiba smirked sourly as he looked away from his team, "What night?" He toyed, his tone distasteful._

_Team 7 frowned._

_"Kiba," Kurenai warned slightly, and when he looked at her she shook her head._

_He turned towards them, his face angered, "What do you exactly want to know?"_

_"Why did Sakura leave?" Naruto asked, eager to get the process going._

_Team 7 leaned in slightly, and Kiba smirked once more, and spat you, "You."_

_They froze, and weren't quite sure if they had heard him correctly. Kakashi and Yamato looked at each other, wearing the same emotions on their faces. Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. Sai kept a blank face, the gears in his mind turning as he processed this. Naruto's eyes had widened, and he blinked._

_"W...What?" He asked, sure he might've heard wrong._

_Kiba shook his head, his wild hair bouncing slightly, "She left, because of you guys. Did you really think you could leave her behind like that and just expect her to be okay? After you left, she looked she got punched in the gut every time anyone saw her."_

_Noticing the looks on their faces, he continued with the pure intent of making them suffer._

_"She stopped smiling, and if she did magically smile, it was a fake ass smirk she probably picked up from you," He commented at Sai, who made not face at the comment._

_"She must've stopped eating sometime around, because she got really thin. It almost looked like she'd be blown away by a gust of air at any moment. She always looked like she had been crying, and you know what? It was all because you!" He spat, rubbing salt in the wound._

_Naruto growled, "Shut up! You're lying!"_

_Kiba looked at the ground, his bangs hiding his eyes. He shook his head, and looked back up at them, "If you think I'm lying, then you really didn't know her at all, huh?_

* * *

They eventually did figure out that it was the truth. They had asked all of there other friends, and they had confirmed Kiba's description of Sakura after they had left. It had been months since then, and the others weren't so bitter towards them any more. Bringing up Sakura, however, was a big no-no. Any hint towards the pinkette in a conversation would instantly sour everything, and bring back past anger.

It had surprised them at how many people were truly mad at them. It had taken Naruto at least a week to get Rock Lee to speak with him again, and Neji Hyuuga was particularly colder to them as well. Tenten had bluntly stated for them to "stay the hell away from her". Gai had tried to keep some peace amongst them, but even he could hide his emotions. He had wondered just how Kakashi could leave a student behind, it had almost been the silver haired man's motto to stick with team mates.

Team 10 had been none better. In fact, Ino had managed a good hit at Naruto. She had just charged forward and punched him right in the jaw, her team mates watching without a care in the world. When Kakashi and Yamato finally pried her off, Shikamaru and Chouji had stepped in to get her away from them. Despite the many words that could've been said at that moment, Shikamaru just called them troublesome and walked off. Chouji had opened his mouth, but ended up deciding against his words and walking away. Ino had quickly followed them, tears shining in her blue eyes.

Tsunade was just as sour. They were not allowed to take missions for a few months for leaving a team mate behind. Sasuke had a full year away from missions due to his defection from Konoha. They had taken up this time with training, and that one day at the training fields they had felt her chakra. It was being mixed with two different chakras, almost like they were trying to cover up hers. When they saw her, she was in a henge, but when confronted they actually got to see her.

Beautiful, yes, but confused. She didn't have a clue to who they were, and why they were bothering her. Sasuke had pried a bit, thinking that just maybe, she was faking. It turns out that she hadn't been, judging by the screams that had come from her when he pried to far. That scream had haunted them for a quite a while. It was a sound they never wanted to hear again.

When they told the Hokage, along with their old friends as they all had gathered in her office, that had saw Sakura, there were so many different reactions. An angry Ino had yelled at them for not catching her, but she had been cut off as the Hokage order them from her office. It was still unknown how the situation was going to be handled, and not knowing made everything so much more nerve wracking.

Naruto looked into his empty ramen bowl, and felt his heart squeeze. Would Sakura come after him just like the rest of the Akatsuki? Would she even care about him if they did something to him? She couldn't remember him, so why should she? It hurt him to think that she couldn't remember, but then he thought about what the others had said happened to her after they.

Maybe it was for the best, that she didn't remember what they had put her through.

**Sakura Haruno**

My heart felt heavier as we left the house, but I felt satisfied. I had face a part of my past without a problem, but I still had much more to sort through in my mind. I was an Akatsuki member. The Akatsuki were going after the Tailed Beasts and their containers. Naruto was one of those people, and so was Gaara.

I froze, and I felt like hitting myself. Thinking of Gaara had reminded me of a certain battle I had a while back. A certain battle with a certain, now human, puppet master. At least I knew exactly why he hated me when I had first joined. It seemed that he had softened slightly, but he still had that edge. I would, too, if I had to be around the person that killed me.

As I got back onto topic, I couldn't get the worry out of my head.

What would happen when we had to go after the Tailed Beasts?

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**Piper: I'm done! I hope you all liked it!**

**Please review!**


	19. Drill

**Piper: Update time, yay! Also, there is a notice at the end of the chapter just so that you know!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 19 - Drill

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He opened his eyes, and the world blurred before him. There were no solid lines, just colors blending and sliding along his gaze. He blinked, and with each blink the strain on his eyes began to slowly ease. He began to test and make sure everything was working correctly. His neck, arms, legs, fingers, and toes all functioned correctly, with a bit of strain. The aches and pains were stressful, but he didn't let that get in the way of his awakening.

Turning his head to the side, his golden gaze could see the machines he was hooked to. A memory danced through his eyes, and now he knew exactly why he was in this place. He could remember what had caused him to be sitting in this bed, broken, and depending machines to help keep him going. The thought of this defeat angered him, but then he realized that the attack upon him was not successful, for he was awake and alive.

A wicked grin stretched his lips, and he began to force himself to sit. His muscles screamed their protest, but he paid them no mind. Little pain no longer bother him, for over the years as a ninja he had learned to deal with the little pains easily. The machines he was hooked to began to make strange noises, making his ears ring. He frowned, and disconnected himself. He pulled the IV from his hand, and everything else attached to himself. The machines went dead, and his face twisted once more.

He stood, and made sure to keep himself straightened out. He would not show his weaknesses when they were so small and insignificant. Pushing his limit, he walked towards the door. Just as he was about to reach it, said object burst open and slammed against the wall. His right-hand man almost collided with him, panic on his face.

When said right-hand man realized it was him and that he was standing, awake, he bowed.

The man cracked his neck, and signaled for the boy to stand, and spoke in a low hiss, "It is time we planned our revenge."

**Sakura Haruno**

I coughed violently, blood spraying from my mouth and onto the grass. I could feel Tobi's disapproving stare, and grit my teeth. He had just punched me straight in the gut, at such a force I could hardley hold myself up. I pumped a little chakra to my wounds, and brushed the blood leaking from the corner of my mouth.

"I didn't hit you that hard," He taunted, and I felt some anger swelling within my stomach.

It had been two weeks since Pein had taken me to see our old house. Now that I had my memory back, I had less distracting me during my training sessions with Tobi. He used a little bit to much power sometimes, as demonstrated a little bit before. I knew that he was just trying to toughen me and make me stronger, but he hardly ever showed a kindness in training. It was brutal, and if I screwed up to much we would stay here even longer. No matter how long the training was, I always ended up sore and stiff.

Standing up as straight as I could force my aching body, I sprinted forward. He stood still, waiting for my approach to get close enough. Just as I approached and meant to throw a fist, his leg shot out at me. I twisted my hips to dodge, and jumped off to the side. He chuckled darkly, and swung a fist. I let my upper body flow like water, head moving back so that the punch would pass through the air. My dodge had diverted my attention, and his other fist wailed me in the stomach.

I flew backwards, and my back slammed into the trunk of a tree about 10 feet away from where I'd been standing. My stomach felt terrible right about now. I had taken at least four hits to the stomach right about now, and I was surprised that I hadn't thrown my supper up at Tobi's feet yet. I let some chakra flow to my stomach, and a soothing warmth passed over me.

"We're done with speed for now," Tobi said, watching as I began to heal all of my wounds.

Nodding slightly, I started working on healing the back of my legs. The muscles there were pulled and strained, like they normally were from my speed training. Each day I pulled one or both of my legs, trying too hard to enhance my speed so that I could reach Tobi's level. i was getting there, however. I noticed improvement almost every week, which was big considering I normally didn't think highly of my achievements these days. I was so belittled before that I couldn't see how strong I was, but now I could honestly see the changes in me.

"Start studying that scroll I gave you when you get back to your room," Tobi instructed, and I nodded at him once more.

He vanished from sight, and I started to make my way back to the base. The air was frigid cold, from the rain that had been pouring down an hour ago. Fighting in that rain had soaked me to the bone, and I was freezing. I quickly entered the base and found my room, and took a warm shower. I switched into some relaxing clothes, and began to study the scroll I was given, like Tobi instructed me to do.

It was the elemental fist scroll he had given me in the library so long ago, and I was beginning to learn the hand signs for it. It was slightly frustrating to learn the hand signs for this jutsu at first, because they tended to go in an order the boggled my mind a bit. I would go through the appropriate signs, and suddenly notice I missed one or confused one. Now I could go through them almost perfectly, and I was getting good speed times for getting them through.

Every time I practiced the hand signs, my chakra would stir. I had yet to actually test the jutsu. Tobi had told me to test it once I felt ready, but I didn't know if I was.

I glanced over the technique once more. I didn't know which element to try first. I bit my lip, and looked over the different paths I had to follow. Each element had a different path, and it the jutsu seemed much more simple then before. I now realized that I didn't need to learn how to do each elemental path. If I wanted to, I could, but it would be much easier for me to do the paths that my chakra leaned towards first.

The trouble with that? I had no idea what kind of elemental chakra I had, if I had any.

I pursed my lips, and slowly went for the door, carrying the scroll along with me. I moved down a few familiar hallways and came to a official looking door. It was still a bit too early in the morning for anyone to be up, but I decided to try any way. If he wasn't up I could come back later. I hesitated before rapped my knuckles against the hard wood, and a reply came soon after. I opened the door and peaked my head inside. Pein looked up at me from behind his desk, and blinked.

"What are you doing up so early?" We asked at the same time, and blinked at each other.

It was silent for a moment as we waited for the other to answer first.

"I was training," I spoke finally.

He nodded slightly, and stated, "I was cleaning my desk."

I made a face at the messy subject at hand. Pein's desk was so cluttered it almost seemed impossible. He didn't really have a bunch of paper work to do, it was more like information he needed to look over and never put away.

Pein smirked a little at my face, and motioned me into the room. I closed the door and walked inside. I sat in one of the chairs positioned on the other side of Pein's desk, placing my scroll in my lap. I looked at his desk, and noticed a decent sized chunk taken out of the side from it, which showed that he had been doing some cleaning before I had walked in.

"I wanted to know if you could help me with something," I asked him, looking at his familiar ringed eyes.

He motioned for me to continue, and I asked him, "Could you help me figure out if I have elemental chakra?"

Pein raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'That's it?'. He opened a draw in his desk and produced a simple sheet of paper. He handed to me from over his cluttered desk top, and I looked at him with curiosity shining in my eyes.

"Place a little bit of your chakra into the paper, it's reaction should determine what kind of element you can easily use," Pein explained absentmindedly, looking through a pile on his desk.

I nodded, and chakra flowed through my body, into my arms. I could feel it go to my fingers tips, and start to leak into the paper. Pein looked up just in time to watch with me, as the paper suddenly began to shrivel and crumple into a wad without my doing. I looked back up at Pein, and saw the past dancing in his eyes as he reminisced.

"Just like Sayuri," He said lowly, and my attention perked at the mention of my mother's name.

Pein looked at me, the memories dancing in his mind now gone, and stated, "You have the elemental chakra of lightning within you."

I nodded slightly, smiling at the thought of being the same element as my mother, when suddenly something wet on my fingers made me jump in fright. I looked down at my hands and what I saw puzzled me. The wrinkled piece of paper had suddenly became soggy in my grasp, the material suddenly much more fragile.

Raising an eyebrow, I looked back up at Pein.

"Looks like you have a bit of the water element in your chakra, judging by the later reaction," He mused.

"Water?" I mumbled lightly, looking down at the damp and slightly dripping piece of paper.

"If I remember correctly, water was Ryota's element. He knew a few strong elemental jutsu's, most were water. He hardly used it, how ever," Pein explained.

I nodded, and slowly stood from my seat. I thanked him and turned to leave when his voice stopped me suddenly.

"Why did you need to know your element, Sakura?"

Turning towards him, I noticed him eyeing the scroll I held in my hands with slight interest shining in his eyes.

"Tobi wants me to learn this jutsu, and I needed to know which elements would be easiest for me to start out with," I admitted, watching as Pein's eyes flickered distastefully at the mention of my teachers name.

Don't get me wrong, I was still training with each other Akatsuki every day, but every night I had training with Tobi. The other members didn't know of this secret training, aside from Pein. To them, Tobi was just the odd one that they drug along for the hell of it. They had no idea how terrifying he could be.

Nothing left to be said, I left the room with a soft good-bye to my childhood friend. Scroll tucked under my arm, I prepared myself for some quiet private training in my room.

* * *

Two days later, sometime in the afternoon, I was called to Pein's office along with my fellow Akatsuki members. Pein stood behind his now tidy desk, a somewhat smug look in his eyes as he looked at me. I stuck my tongue out at him childishly when the other members weren't looking, thinking about just how long it had to take him to get that desk neat and clean.

Hiding a smirk, Pein began to speak, "I have a mission for you, Sakura."

This caught my attention, and as he went to continue Hidan suddenly let out a complaint.

"Then why the hell are we even fucking here?"

Kakuzu smacked him upside the head harshly, and the Jashinist began cursing underneath his breath, rubbing his sore cranium.

Ignoring the outburst all together, Pein began to explain, "Sakura has to go on this mission, but she needs a team or two to go with her incase things were to go wrong."

I grit my teeth slightly, but I knew that Pein wouldn't undermine me. He had faith in me and my progress, so if he thought that I needed a team to go with me then I truly did need one. I just wished that I was strong enough to go alone, strong enough that they would be assured that nothing would go wrong if I was sent alone.

"Who would be willing to go?" Pein asked, and several hands raised.

I looked around, interested. Tobi had both hands in the air, keeping up his excited facade in front of the others. He was practically vibrating with excited, his hands waving around. Deidara had raised his hand, glaring at Tobi from the corner of his showing eye, the reason being that Tobi had almost smacked him in the face with his flailing arms. Kisame has raised his hand, and at one point had taken Itachi's arm and raised it. When he was glared at by said Uchiha he quickly dropped Itachi's arm, but kept his in the air. Hidan had his hand raised, bloodlust shining deeply within his purple eyes Zetsu, too, had a hand raised, but seemed to be in an argument with his other half at the moment.

Slightly flattered, I looked towards the ground.

Pein looked over his choices, and nodded towards Kisame and Itachi, "You two will accompany Sakura on this mission."

They nodded, everyone ignoring the long, drawn out whine from Tobi in the background.

I took a breath in through my nose, and hoped for the best.

* * *

**Piper: Okay, notice time. I noticed that some people aren't happy with the Madara pairing. I've been thinking... Since I've already done a Mada/Saku pairing for my AU story, and I've done a lot of Pein/Saku to. And I really want to try my hand at something different. Since this is slightly Multi-Saku, I believe that I haven't done anything too serious to consider switching the pairing. If you would tell me in your review how you feel, please respond with one of these people you would like Sakura to be with:**

**Deidara**

**Itachi**

**Hidan**

**Kakuzu**

**Kisame**

**Sasori**

**Zetsu**

**Leave it as it is**

**Please give me a good reason if you pick "Leave it" because I would like to consider my options before focusing on someone else to mainly pair her with. I know I don't have much fluff up with her and some of them, and I want to try to fix that.**

**Also, I have a poll on my profile, and I'd really like to know what you think about it!**

**Please review, and tell me what you think!**


	20. Hoax

**Piper: Alright, I've decided that I'm going to leave the pairing as it is, BUT! For you people who really wanted other pairings, I will try to lay more hints of SakuxMulti along with the main pairing of MadaSaku.**

**Sorry for the long update! I've been busy. I tried to make up for it with a longer chapter.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 20 - Hoax

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**Sakura Haruno**

The wind was blowing all around us, and my cloak billowed around my knees with every breeze. The trees around us were the only source of noise, the wind making their leaves shake and speak. All animals that might've been present were completely silent, most likely because of the large storm brewing overhead. I could see lightly flashing in the distance, and it had began to drizzle a long while ago as we approached the storm. I kept my head ducked, and had a hand on my hood at all times.

"The village is on the horizon," Kisame informed me, his voice almost lost in the blaring of the wind.

"Okay," I yelled over the wind, but I was almost positive it had been turned into silence at the lack of response I got back.

We were swallowed into the storm once we got almost completely underneath it. I could hardly see a foot in front of me, and I was hanging onto the hem of one of my teammates cloak sleeves so that I wouldn't get completely lost. As we travel through the sea falling form above, I started to see a lightly glow in the distance. It was very faint, and every few seconds it would fade from sight from the thick rain. I was heavily reminded of the time I was escorted by Tobi and Deidara into Amegakure, even though I knew we were somewhere near the borders of the lands of Kusagakure and Takigakure.

We had been traveling for the past four days, almost five. Well, it could've very well have been five days at that time, but I didn't know the current time. I couldn't see the moon through the clouds and rain, so I wouldn't know if it was past midnight or before. I wasn't exactly interested, either, all I was focused on was finding the village so that we could find an inn or hotel to sleep in.

"You got your headband on?" Kisame's voice said gruffly into my ear, and I realized that it was his sleeve I was using to keep myself connected to the group.

I gave his sleeve a reassuring tug, knowing that my voice would just get lost once again.

The light in the distance had stopped fading, and was now getting closer and brighter. As I gazed at it, it filled me with warmth. Looking at the light made me think of warm, and blocked out the cold rain crashing around us. The word crashed was the right word to describe it, because the rain was falling like there was an ocean being dropped on our heads. Every step I took was like walking in a couple inch deep puddle, a squish of wet dirt and slight spray of wet.

Finally, we reached a gate. We talked out way past the guard, who didn't look very happy about getting stuck watching in the rain. Once inside the village, we traveled through the empty streets and found ourselves an inn to stay at. Kisame did most of the talking to inn keeper, but she seemed much more interested in ogling at Itachi, who had removed his hat after we had come inside.

"Would you like a separate room, hun? I could come up and visit you later, if you'd like?" She asked him, fluttering her eye lashes playfully.

I raised both eyebrows, a small laugh built up in my throat, and looked towards my team mates. Kisame looked a bit angry that he was ignored by the woman, and Itachi looked as emotionless as ever. He didn't even blink at her question.

Itachi glanced at the woman, and she froze when she saw the chilling look in the depths of his eyes. She instantly backed off, and shakily handed Kisame the room key. Kisame snatched it from her grasp, still a bit sore about being ignored because of looks. He moved for the stairs, Itachi and I close behind.

"If it means anything Kisame, I think you're very handsome," I told him lightly, smirking a bit.

He rolled his eyes, but there was a small smirk quirking his blue lips. About that point he found our room, and unlocked the door. He swung it open, and we all filed inside. It was a bit dirty, but wasn't that bad all together. We could've stayed some where much nicer, but we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves in any way. It was bad enough that the three of us naturally attracted attention. Kisame had blue skin and features that reminded one of a certain aquatic predator, I had natural pink hair, and Itachi was an Uchiha, which seemed to naturally make those who prefer men look his way.

There was two beds and a couch, and I watched as Kisame threw his things next to the couch and stretched out onto it. Itachi set his things next to one of the beds, and I dropped my backpack onto my own bed. I peeled away my cloak, and pulled a pair of fresh sleeping clothes from my pack. I changed in the bathroom, and came back out clad in short that stopped at the knees, and short sleeved blue shirt.

Itachi had the mission scroll laid out on his bed. I walked towards him, and joined him in examining it.

"You know what you are doing, correct?" He asked quietly, looking at me from the corners of his eyes.

I nodded, and gestured towards my backpack, "I have everything we'll need for the mission."

"The part is two days from now, right?" Kisame asked from the couch, his blue hair peaking from the side.

"Right," I said, nodding once to myself.

It grew silent after that, and I slid under the covers of my bed. Itachi turned the lights out, and the darkness slowly oozed into my mind. I shook it away, and used a bit of chakra to try and force myself into sleep. The last thing I needed was to loose my focus on a mission again. I considered my last mission with Sasori and Deidara a failure, because it was my fault we had our cover blown.

I wouldn't jeopardize this mission.

* * *

For the next two days we spent out time making small appearances in the town. The storm had passed, and people were now out and about during the day. We made sure someone would see us or a clone of us, making sure that they were suspicious of us disappearing like we actually were. We were stalking our mission objective, and preparing ourselves.

We didn't need to stalk our client, but it was a good idea to try and figure out as much as we could before we were to go into action.

The objective of our mission was simple. Steal some money from a wealthy man, to help keep up the Akatsuki funds. This man was said to have inherited a bunch of money when his clan died, given all of their money. This money included the money that the deceased clan members had earned and kept them selves, money made from selling their possessions, and any valuables that the clan kept stored away from the rest of the world.

It was quiet mysterious that this young bachelor was the only one left of his clan. He claimed to be living in another village, and when he came to visit his family he found them all slaughtered.

This clan was nothing special, though. They weren't special, no kekkei genkai, and it was said that very few of this clan became ninjas. If they did, however, they did just as well as any normal ninja. They didn't stand out in anything like that, only in the long line of history the clan went through and their built up wealth. Well, they were no longer a large clan, and the sole survivor was now in possession of every single piece of wealth.

This survivor, Daichi Sasaki, was one of few ninja from his clan. From our observations, he trained vigorously each day from noon to five in the afternoon. He specialized in water jutsu, and was very good at Taijutsu. He was quick, and he was using a method training that Tobi and Pein were going to start me on sometime soon. Using weights on the legs. It was good at training speed, but it heavily reminded me of a certain Leaf ninja who used to claim his love for me.

Pein and Tobi had both said I was improving in speed, but my process had been slowing down recently. I was reaching the limit of how much more I could push by myself, and they had both told me I was going to start on weights soon. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I knew I had to if I wanted to become a better ninja. I wanted to become a better ninja, so that I could protect the things and people I love and care for. It was something I wasn't able to do before, but that was going to change.

"We better get ready," I whispered into my mic, hearing the faint agreements of my team mates on the other line.

I formed my hands together, moved them in the dance of hand signs, and disappeared in a small twirl of cherry blossoms. It went unnoticed, due to the training ground Daichi trained in being surrounded by pink cherry blossom trees. I could do the technique without uncloaking my chakra, so the flutter cherry blossoms blended in with the back round and I slipped away.

The room of our hotel materialized around me, and I watched as the cherry blossoms faded. Kisame and Itachi appeared seconds later, and we began to get ready.

Daichi held a party every weekend now that he had his fortune. It was the perfect opportunity for us to slip in, because this weekends party was a masked party. Everyone was required to wear a mask that covered their faces, along with normal former night attire.

As I readied myself, I couldn't help but think about how Tobi could've taken this mission as well. His mask never leaves his face in front of others, and even when he has it off one cannot see his face.

"Henge!" I whispered, and a puff of smoke shrouded me.

When the smoke cleared, I looked into the mirror. The face I looked at in the mirror was not my own, the only similar things my nose and eye color. My hair was now platinum blonde, the waves and curls expertly twisted into a bun onto my head. A few stray hairs framed my face, curled and bouncy. My skin was still pale, and my eyes were still green.

I applied make up the best I could. I wasn't good at doing my make up. I had stopped putting any on when Team 7 began to become more serious to me. I simply added shades of silver and black to my eyes, along with black eye liner and mascara making my eyes pop against my face. I applied a faint blush to my cheeks to make a slight flush of color against the pale skin.

My outfit was a black kimono with green trim. Along the black were faint shadows of grey and green vines and leaves. The kimono stopped at my knees, and I had a black tank top and shorts on underneath it. I wore black, strapped stiletto heels that I knew would be the death of me at some point. I was terrible in heels.

For the final touch I twisted a fake, red rose into my bun. As I did so, a heavily feeling hit me. It took me a moment, but once I remembered it had tears pooling in the depths of my eyes.

A face flashed behind my closed eye lids, and I remembered the girl I had considered my sister when I was child. Konan, with her blue hair always expertly pinned up with a origami flower she made. She and I had wore matching hair one day, I remembered. She had taken my petal pink hair and twisted it into a bun. She helped me fold my own origami flower, and that days we had similar hair. I remembered how pretty I felt when she helped me do my hair. I felt as pretty as Konan and my Mother, which wasn't something I had normally felt as a child. Normally, I was jealous of the two for their obvious beauty.

Swallowing slightly, I turned from the mirror and my memories, and I left the bathroom.

A tan skinned, brown haired man with Kisame's voice whistled when I entered the main room, "You clean up good, kid. You'd look better with your natural hair, though."

I smiled slightly, "Thank you, Kisame."

Itachi stepped forward, now under the disguise of an older man with short blonde hair and brown eyes, "Here."

He handed me a green fox mask, and my heart squeezed slightly. I thought of Naruto and the rest of my team. I couldn't help the home sickness that washed over me, but it was blown away by the bitterness I felt towards them. They left me alone. Wrote a note, dropped it off, and left. Everything I had at that point in time was ripped from me, because they wouldn't even think of taking me with them.

I ran my hand over the soft material of the mask, and studied it a bit more. It was green, to match my dress. It had a black vine design around the right side, and the longest vine crossed over the right eye diagonally. The eyes were heavily rimmed with black, and ears on top were black instead of green. It reminded me of Konoha's ANBU masks, except this one was made of material and not porcelain.

I put on the mask, and looked at my team mates through the eyes of a fox. We nodded, Kisame using a normal shaped mask that was colored red and white, while Itachi had the mask of bear color blue and green.

We disappeared into the night, and made our way to the party. I hid in the trees to the front entrance of his clan's compound. He had rented out the houses of the compound, but had kept the main house to himself. It was the biggest, and largest of the clan houses. It was obvious that this some kind of coincidence. You would think someone would mourn more, but it was only about a month ago this man had found his family dead. Now, here he was, throwing parties and seeming completely okay with absence in his life.

There were groups of people piling into the compound, heading for the main building at the back. It towered over the other buildings, and it was very hard to miss.

I slipped out of the shadows and into a group almost unnoticeably. They didn't seem to notice the addition to their company, and two female from the group continued to gush about how they hoped they could catch Daichi's attention. The two males of the group seemed a bit put out, obviously because their "dates" were hoping to get with another guy.

Pushing away past memories of Ino and I, I scowled underneath my mask at the two. Did we really used to sound like that? It was painfully annoying. It made you want to stab them in the throat, and then crush them into tiny, mute, pieces.

I turned my head distastefully from their now explicit conversation, and slowly reached out with my chakra. I kept it cloaked, and let it unnoticeably expand around me. I could feel Itachi and Kisame somewhere in the groups of people. I realized Itachi was only a group ahead of me, and turned my head slightly. I could see the back of his head, blending in with a group of laughing men. Kisame, from what I could feel with my chakra, had just entered the compound.

When we got up to the main house, I couldn't help but feel slightly awe. Everything had been decorated with lights and ribbons, and as my group entered the house I couldn't help but notice how pretty it was inside. It was big, huge even. Everything was polished and clean, including the people. But, just because the people looked clean, didn't mean they were.

A few scantily dressed girls with bunny masks brushed by me, giggling and whispering to each other. My stomach clenched slightly at the sight of them, and I was glad that I was no longer a fan girl. I couldn't deny that I had still loved Sasuke after he had left the village, but after that the love had slowly began to diminish into dust as time passed.

When I entered the dining room, I saw him. He was wearing a black fox mask, similar to my own. It's design, however, was a red fire around the trim. His choppy cut bronze hair stood out from the mask, the spikes cut so long that they drooped slightly. If one looked close enough, they could see the icy sky blue color of his eyes.

Daichi was surrounded by women, all of their masks all some form of cute animal.

Looking to the side, I saw Kisame slipping through the crowd towards the back. Averting my eyes, I moved to the drink table. It was obvious the punch was spiked. You could tell easily with one sip. I got myself a small cup, and pretended to take a long drink from it. I walked around the room, occasionally standing in a crowd, before I found a corner to place myself in.

I leaned against it, and kept my eyes on Daichi. He was laughing, twirling a girl's blond hair around one of his fingers. She was practically in his lap, giggling like a maniac. He had several male friend around him, who also seemed to be enjoying the company of the crowding females. It sickened me, but I needed to keep an eye on him. If needed, I would have to intervene.

Daichi suddenly stood, and I pushed some chakra into my ears.

"I'm going to go get something to drink," He said, making a couple of the girls whine in disappointment.

I followed his figure with my eyes, and slowly moved towards the drink table my self. We met the table at the same moment, and our hands reached for the punch bowel ladle at the exact moment.

"Oh," I said softly, pulling my hand back, "I'm sorry."

Our eyes connected for a moment, and something flashed in his eyes. He chuckled, and spoke smoothly, "No, it's fine. I wasn't looking. My name is Daichi, Daichi Sasaki."

"You threw this party, correct?" I questioned gently, putting a few fine tunes into my voice.

Daichi nodded, his ego inflating slightly, "Yes, I did. But, you, what is your name?"

"Haruka Arai, Mr. Sasaki," I said, bowing slightly.

He chuckled, and reached forward. He used a finger to tilt my chin back up. His sky blue eyes stared into the holes of my mask, as though he was searching for something, "Just Daichi, Haruka, and there is no reason for you to bow to me."

Looking away in a false sense of shyness, I nodded, "Alright."

"So, what brings a little thing like you to my party?" He questioned, leaning closer.

I tried to subtly lean away, but it wasn't working.

"I-uh... A friend," I whispered slightly, "She brought me here because I don't go out very much."

"Shy? How about you and go back and have a talk instead of in front of all these people, huh? Ak-at-su-ki?" He hissed in my ear.

My eyes widened in shock, and I almost let go of my henge. He took ahold of my arm and began to pull me through the crowds of people. A few people greeted him, and he would chirp a greeting back at them. When we were out of the dining room, and now traveling down a long, dark hallway, I spiked my chakra dangerously.

Daichi hissed, and threw me down the hall, "Don't even think of alerting your team mates!"

I crashed through the walls, and flipped onto my feet. I skidded against the wood flooring, tearing up a few floor boards. I pulled three kunai from my hidden pouch, taking a stance against Daichi, who was stepping over the rubble of the collapsed wall. He tore off his mask, revealing a sharply detailed face. He had smaller, intelligent eyes, and high cheek bones.

"Now, now," He consoled, "There's no reason to suddenly get all fiery. I just want to talk to you."

"Liar!" I spat, and flicked out my wrist.

The kunai soared, and bedded themselves into the wall as Daichi dodged with ease. I jumped back as he appeared before me, reaching for my mask. I back flipped, and glared at him through the holes in my mask. He was fast, very fast. His training with the weights had proved very successful, because I almost couldn't get away from him.

"Come now, Akatsuki. I know you're in a henge, why not take off that silly mask. If you were as cunning as a fox I wouldn't have been able to figure you out," He purred, making my grit my teeth in anger.

I wanted to charge him and punch him so hard in the face that his skull would collapse, but I couldn't. Tobi had been working to make me fight with flow, not with anger.

Taking in a calming breath, I moved my body into a fighting stance. I motioned for him to make the first move, making him smirk widely. It seemed to split the good looks on his face, every inch of it suddenly becoming sinister with the expression. He hunched, and sprung at me. My eyes widened when I lost track of him for a second, and felt an intense pain suddenly bloom across my back as he kicked me from behind.

I fell forward, but turned it into an attack by putting out my hands and swinging my lower body. My right caught him in the shoulder, and I pushed myself up to block one of his fists. His other arm came around, and threw out my hands. I caught it in my fist, and began to squeeze. I laced chakra into my hand, and felt his bones begin to give way.

He smirked, and leaned forward, causing my to pause. His haunting cold breath hit my ear as he whispered, "Do you think you can really win?"

Gritting my teeth, I grinning as a sickening crunch filled the air. The bones in his hand were crushed by my strength, making him howl with pain. Daichi lifted a leg, and lashed out violently. He hit me in the stomach, and I flew backwards. I pumped chakra into my feet to try and keep myself steady, and watched as he came at me faster then before with rage coloring his face.

I switched into defense, and began to block and dodge his attacks, dancing around the room to avoid his powerful rage. It was easier to block now that he was so brash, and I was beginning to understand what Tobi said about keeping a level head in a fight. Acting like a hellion wouldn't get to any where unless you had enough power to back up the rage.

But, that thought came by too fast. I wasn't strong enough to go into a rage and fight Daichi, but Daichi was strong enough. I realized this too late, when a his fist suddenly collided with my temple. I felt something crack, and I had trouble stopping my body from rolling on the floor. When I finally stopped the world was spinning dangerously, and something warm and wet was trickling down from my hair line.

_'Where are Itachi and Kisame, they should've felt my chakra even if it was only for a second,'_ I thought to myself, but was cut off as a leg suddenly kicked out, crashing into my ribs.

I could feel a few ribs break, and I cried out from pain. Gritting my teeth, I could feel more blood ooze down the side of my head as I rolled away from Daichi in a weak dodge.

At that moment, I felt like that weak little girl of Team 7 again. Wishing for her team mates to save her, unable to help herself. The feeling enraged me. The last thing I ever wanted to do was become that girl again, but there I was, wishing for Itachi and Kisame to come and save me from getting killed. For once in my life I wanted to save myself, and that's what I planned on doing.

I pulled myself to my feet, breathing heavily. I began to work on my ribs, watching with hazy eyes as Daichi smirked at me. I raised a hand to heal the wound on my head, and my eye sight started to clear up. What I saw shocked me, because a sudden pattern of ink was raising up from Daichi's neck. I watched, eyes widening, as it moved slightly.

"Shocked?" He purred, reaching for his collar.

He pulled it down, revealing an all too familiar curse mark. I was almost barreled over from memories of a certain forest, back in the days of the Chunin Exams. I remembered my team mate, and how that curse mark was the main cause of out Team crumbling into pieces.

"Orochimaru..." I whispered, and he nodded with a wicked grin.

Daichi began to slowly circle me, casually, as thought he were a predator stalking his prey, "Did you think he was dead? That Uchiha boy sure did. He thought that he could actually kill Lord Orochimaru. Please! He was into himself!"

"Like you," I whispered darkly, and suddenly found myself crashing into a wall.

My half healed injuries smarted, and I could feel blood oozing from a cut on my back. Daichi's chakra was raging, expanding to such a large pool that I could feel it consuming me. Breathing heavily, I tried to pull my self into a standing position, only to find my body screaming in protest. I only had one ace up my sleeve, and I didn't even know if it work.

"See, we knew you Akatsuki needed to get some cash every now and again. Lord Orochimaru thought that this would be a good set up to lure you in, to show you all that he was still alive. He also said, that if I could take a life, it would be like a gift from the Akatsuki to welcome him back, whether it's a willing gift or not. It looks as though he'll get to accept that gift, since the Akatsuki decided to send their weakest link, it seems."

I grit my teeth in raw anger, and at that exact moment, my henge dropped. My hair fell from its bun, choppy petal pink locks framing my pale face. Daichi chuckled, and reached forward. He ripped the mask from my face, and tilted his head curiously.

"Sakura Haruno? Interesting," His whispered, and knelt down next to me.

My mind screamed in alert, and I mustered up a hand full of chakra. He was caught off guard, and my fist slammed into his cheek. I forced myself to my feet, watching as Daichi slid back a few feet. He wiped a trickle of blood that rolled down his chin with his sleeve, a sinister smirk on his face.

"I think I'm only going to beat to close to death. Then I'll bring you to Lord Orochimaru, for a little testing," He whispered into the silence, his eyes gleaming despite the lack of light.

I swallowed, and I could taste blood go down along with my saliva, "You won't get the chance."

He blew up into laughter, throwing back his head. When his spout was over, he took a stance, "Bring it on, little girl."

We sprung at each other, and I threw out a fist. He caught is with ease, and I kicked out my foot. His hand wrapped around my ankle. He started to swing me around, but he didn't let go. I crashed into any furniture left standing, and my head was feeling like a tornado when he finally let go of me. I crashed into the wall, but quickly forced myself back onto my feet. I was sluggish, but I had to keep going. I wouldn't be held back any longer. I didn't care if he was stronger of faster then I, I wouldn't stop trying.

I pushed him into defense, throwing out my fists as fast as I could. If he caught them, I would rip them away before he could use them to throw me once again. He was growing frustrated, and I could hear him grit his teeth as he couldn't find an opening in my flurry of kicks and punches. I got him closer and closer to the wall, before I found my chance. Placing my hands into formation, I went into rapid hand signs. The chakra I hadn't used in my attacks burst out, expanding around us. It flowed through me like a vibrant, powerful river, and I laced it into my hand.

"Elemental fist: Lightning!" I spouted loudly, and charged faster then my injured body should have been able to go.

Daichi's eyes widened at my sudden speed, and I lashed out with my fist. It crashed into his stomach, and suddenly there was a bright flash of lightly. A loud crackle of lightning filled the air, and there was a powerful burst of energy coming from my fist. Daichi screamed, mirroring my own as my arm felt as though it was engulfed in flames. The same burning I felt in my arms was crackling all over Daichi's chest, and I caught sight of him as we both fell to the floor.

The jutsu had back fired. I hadn't done it one-hundred percent, and I had taken part of the damage along with Daichi. He had experienced the most of it, I could tell, and I couldn't help but think about how much pain he had been in if I had only gotten a sample of the power of lightning when he got the full blow. I hadn't known the jutsu was so powerful, and I was suddenly wishing I had let him kill me. The pain of being shocked by pure energy had my whole body jerking and shaking, pain electrocuting my very core.

The lightning faded, and glimpsed the damage done. Daichi's chest looked as though it had been ripped open by a sharp-clawed monster. There was a gaping hole in his chest all the way through the size of my fist, and the skin around it was torn open like it had been shredded by a grater. There was blood oozing all down his front, and his eyes glazed over.

I tried to look at myself, to see the damage done, but my vision began to fade. All I could see was black, the very thing I was terrified of in my nightmares. My body hit the floor, pain wracking my entire being. I felt myself loosing my mind to the darkness, and I faintly felt the feeling of comforting hands on me as I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Piper: ... Okay, **_**that**_** was a **_**long**_** chapter. At least it was for me. I hope you guys liked it.**

**Oh, and if any of you find a spot where it says "Madara" instead of "Tobi" PM me, please. I dunno why, but I keep accidently putting Madara instead.**

**Please Review!**


	21. Last Resort

**Piper: Sorry for the late-ish update, but here's the chapter!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 21 - Last Resort

* * *

**Sakura Haruno**

I faded in and out of consciousness, the world nothing but haze around me. Every time I was awake, I could feel a clawing pain all through my arm, into my shoulder. It felt like all the skin had been ripped from the flesh of my arm, but I didn't have enough strength. Just trying my eye lids felt like I was lifting two-hundred pounds, and I could not force myself to do it.

The pain in my arm was the only thing I could feel when I was awake. I couldn't feel wind, or and anything solid. I wandered if that was what dying felt like, feeling nothing but the pain of your cause of death. I hoped not, because I didn't want to die just yet. There were many things I still wanted to do, things I wanted to achieve. I didn't want to leave the Akatsuki behind, even though I didn't exactly know who would truly miss me or not. And, deep down, a little part of me wanted to see the ones I left in Konoha again, just once more before I died.

Suddenly, I woke once more. I could feel hands, old and wise, gentle against my skin. They floated over my injured arm, and relief blossomed like a flower in spring. The sensation was cool, like a light sprinkle of rain on a summer's day. They ran up and down my arm, leaving trails of peace as the paced back and forth. I could almost feel the pain dulling to an ache, covered up by the cool relief. It was refreshing, the feeling was, and I could tell it was the hints of chakra creating the feeling.

Was someone healing me? Was I not dying? So many questions floated through my head now that I was actually conscious, now that I was awake.

I fluttered my eye lids, trying to regain enough strength to open them. It took me a moment, but finally I was able to crack my eyes open to see the world around me. It almost felt like I was seeing things for the first time. As I gazed up, my eyes connected with a creased, smiling face. She was an older woman, with brown hair that was graying. Her eyes were warm, their honey color adding to the friendly nature she seemed to radiate. I could tell that she was wise with her age, the warmth in her eyes accompanied by a look that had seen and been through many things.

"Wh-Who are y-y-you," I whispered, my voice coming out cracked and broken.

She held up a finger, the universal sign for waiting, and she held a cup out to me, filled with a delicious clear liquid. My throat tingled at the sight of the water, and I slowly began to try and sit up so that I could drink. The old woman pressed a hand to my back, her feeble looking hands surprisingly sturdy for someone of her age. Once my sore body was in a sitting position, I took the cup into my hands. I nodded at her gratefully, and swallowed down one-forth of the cup in one go.

Coughing slightly, I used the back of my hand to wipe my mouth. The woman smiled, and took the cup back. She placed in on a stand next to the bed I lay on.

"My name is Misaki, child. They told me that your name is Sakura, correct?" She asked, her eyes smiling along with the rest of her old and creased face.

I nodded slightly, speaking softly, "Yes, that's my name. Where am I, exactly?"

She chuckled slightly, "You are in my home about a mile away from the village, dear. Your friends brought you here, looking for the closest place that would take you in. If you had went any where inside the village you would have been very well caught."

Narrowing my eyes defensively, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Dear, I am not a stupid old woman," She chided, "Whispers of happenings in the village float this way, even though I am so far out here. Over them time period you have been sleeping here, I have heard to Daichi Sasaki's death, and how he died. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. They said his chest looked like it had been ripped open by an animal, and here you are, a ninja with an arm so ripped and tattered that one wouldn't be able to to tell it was an arm at first glance."

Eyes widened, I snapped my head down to look at my arm. It wasn't in shreds, and the shape of it looked normal. I couldn't see the skin, however, because it was covered in bandages from the tips of my fingers up to my collar bone. It didn't hurt any more, like it had when I had been floating in the abyss. It was now a dull aching, only smarting when I moved it too much.

"Your arm is going to always be scarred, I am sad to say. I had to heal many of the pieces back together, but I can't stop the scarring that will come with it. If it had been a normal situation there wouldn't be any scarring, but this certainly wasn't a normal situation," Misaki spoke softly, as if sad for me about my arm.

I blinked slightly, and looked back up at her, "But the scars won't affect how I fight, will it?"

Misaki blinked, before shaking her head. Strands of her silver dusted hair fell into her face, and she quickly tucked them back before she spoke, "No dear, but scar tissue is more sensitive. It would be wise for you to cover your arm from now on, but the scars shouldn't put to much of a strain on your ninja abilities."

Breathing out a pent up sigh of relief, I slowly looked around, before looking at her, "You are not scared of my friends and I, even though we killed Daichi Sasaki. Why is that?"

Her honey colored eyes sparkled slightly, but when I searched for the tears I thought that I saw, they were gone. She looked out the window, which was open and letting sunlight pour into the room.

"When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a ninja just like many kids of the village. However, our academy classes had many more girls then boys. So, I was on a squad with two girls, one being myself, and one boy and a male Jounin. The girl and I became good friends very fast, and her name had been Aiko Sasaki."

My eyes widened slightly as I realized why she was okay with being around Daichi's murderers, "He killed her when he killed his clan, didn't he?" I asked softly, already knowing the answer.

She nodded, her mouth pursed, "I knew it was him from the start that had killed the clan, but when I tried to hold it against him the weasel used the money of his dead family to dig his way out of trouble. I have no problem with you, dead, because you gave my friend peace. Revenge is never the answer, but... Sometimes, it does ones heart good to have things resolved, whether through violence or not."

Well, I had to admit that I had never heard that quote before. I bit back a slight giggle that threatened to bubble its way up my throat, and asked her another question, "And my friends, where are they?"

Masaki looked at me, and pointed a hand over her shoulder at the door, "They are in the living room, enjoying some of the soup that I made for supper."

At that exact moment, my stomach growled loudly. I blushed slightly, and Misaki threw her head back in shaky laughter. She slowly wobbled out of the room, leaving me alone and confused for a few moments. I waited and when she came back in a tall, blue man was following her along with a shorter, black haired male. My face lit up in a bright smile at the familiar face of my team, and Kisame grinned back at me.

"Hey there, killer," He laughed, his shaking frame almost shaking the room along with his body, "How're you feeling?"

I shrugged slightly, "Better, a lot better then I was."

He nodded, before grinning, "The old woman says you need some food, and has given me direct orders not to let you walk."

My eyebrows drew in confusion, and I looked around Kisame to look at Misaki. She was smirking slightly, something that looked a bit odd on her creased face. There was a slightly evil glint her eyes, and she made a point of drawing her eyes back and forth between Kisame, Itachi, and I. I got the point, blushing slightly, and I quickly shook my head.

"Uh, nah, I can walk, really, it's just my arm-"

"Too late," Kisame laughed, and scooped me into his arms along with the bed sheet I had been wrapped up in.

I was kind of shy to meet Itachi's eyes as Kisame carried me past. I had killed Daichi, yes, but I had also fatally injured myself and that had put the mission at risk. I didn't know if he was annoyed with me or not. I surely didn't want him, or Kisame, to be. I didn't quite know about Kisame, but he didn't seem to be angry with me, so I let it go for him.

Next thing I knew, I was sitting on a couch in between Kisame and Itachi with a bowl of warm soup in my lap. I ate mine in silence, watching as Misaki smiled at us from across the room. She clearly thought that there was something was going on between either Kisame and I, Itachi and I, or all three of us. And like a normal elderly lady, she was more then happy to see young love. You would think that she would know, from being a ninja in her younger days, that just because a male and female are team mates it doesn't mean that they're together.

I sighed slightly, almost wishing I was unconscious once more.

* * *

We spent two more days at Misaki's small house, waiting until I had enough chakra to start traveling. When I was strong enough we started traveling back for the base. I felt more guilty the longer it took us, because I felt as though it my fault we were taking so long. I was still avoiding Itachi, and even talking with Kisame was poisoned by my guilt.

I had gotten my first glimpse of my arm when Misaki had to change my bandages. It was gruesome. It looked like my skin had been cut into uneven, jagged pieces, and then glued back on. It made me disgusted, and my self confidence dropped every time I looked upon my bandaged arm. I didn't know how to deal with it, really. I wasn't going to cry over the fact that I had screwed up, it was my own fault that my arm was how it was now. I guess I just felt embarrassed of it, ashamed of it, because now I had a constant reminder of how I always found a way to screw up.

"You've been pretty quiet for a while, Kid, something on your mind?" Kisame asked, looking at me over his shoulder as we darted through the tree tops.

I snapped my head up and shook it, "No, no I'm fine."

It took us a few days to get back to the base, and I was a nervous wreck by the time I had gotten there. I didn't want anyone to see my arm, even though Kisame or Itachi must've sent a quick message about why we were going to be back late. I didn't want them see my failure, the marks so clear and vivid.

We made our way into the base, and towards Pein's office. It was only of pure luck that we didn't run into any of the other Akatsuki on the way there. I could sense their chakra in the living room, and felt their own chakra reach out. Tobi's had spiked excited when it came in contact with my own, another part of his facade as the hyper-active ninja.

When we got to Pein's office door, Kisame raised his hand, and knocked loudly. Itachi and I looked at him slightly, but he didn't seem to care about the volume of his knocks.

"Enter," Pein's voice came from behind, muffled slightly from the wooden barrier between us all.

**Konohagakure**

"Can any of you guess why I have brought you here today?" Her voice almost echoed through the room, the tone reverberating off of the walls and surrounding them like a powerful blanket. She was the Hokage, it was only fit that she was as strong as she way, and that they could feel it. Many people had disliked the fact of a female Hokage, but no one could deny that she held much power within her, despite her age.

A hand shot into the air, and a loud tone burst out, "We're getting a mission to look for Sakura!"

Unnoticeably, a small smile touched her lips, but she quickly covered it. Nodding her head, she turned her honey colored eyes onto the group of familiar friends, and stood up from the chair behind her desk. She walked around the wooden stand and faced the serious group, something that one would only see when they were faced with a hard ship. She was happy that they were able to live happily, and stay serious during their job. It was a quality most ninja lost during the hard times of their lives.

"No, actually," She said, and she could see the similar disappointed reaction among the crowd. She knew that they missed her apprentice just as much as she did. It had come as a shock at first, to see just how many people cared for the girl she considered her daughter.

Tsunade faced them, her face grim. She looked up, and revealed to the crowd, "Orochimaru, is still alive."

There was a collective amount of reaction. Widened eyes, short gasps, accelerated heart beats. All of them knew what this meant, but some still refused to accept it. Only because to them, this revealing contained no logic.

"I killed him," Sasuke stated, looking up from the floor with his cold gaze. His eyes had changed some how, since before he had left for power. At least then, he was more open. Even if he was very open to begin with, he was still much more open then he was now. Now, in fact, he was shut tight. There was no such thing as open any longer.

Tsunade shook her head, "I know, that's what we all believed, but he is alive."

"How do you know this, Lady Tsunade?" Tenten asked curiously, swallowing in a slightly nervous way.

"After hearing of the murdering of the Sasaki clan, I sent ANBU out there to investigate. When they got there, the remaining member of the clan was dead. The ANBU managed to sneak in and get a look at the body and the damage done, and he was a servant of Orochimaru, serving the curse mark."

"That doesn't mean he's alive, Grandma!" Naruto shouted, frustrated.

Tsunade sent him a deathly glare, causing him to shrink back slightly, "Let me finish, Naruto! And don't call me 'Grandma'! As I was saying, when the ANBU got to look at him, they were attacked. They were almost killed by Sound ninja, who revealed that their old master is not dead. They did the most peculiar thing after that..."

"Which is?" Naruto prodded, angry with her pause.

Forcing herself not to punch the fellow blond, Tsunade ran a hand through her hair before speaking out loud, "They took Daichi Sasaki's body with them. Normally this wouldn't be considered too odd, seeing as many ninja bring back the bodies of fallen comrades to be buried in their home village. The thing is, is that we know of Orochimaru's tendencies to experiment. It seems much to odd for Orochimaru to actually care about his deceased warriors, so we can only expect that he is doing some thing with the bodies."

A silence washed over the room, when suddenly there was a pecking at the window. Tsunade looked over, and a heavy frown crossed her features. A eagle, ebony black with the tips of its feathers stained blue. It was an unfamiliar summon, but it had a tied up scroll in its beak. Carefully, she let the creature into the room. It sounded off loudly, startling some of the already alert ninja in the room, expanding its magnificent wings to suddenly dive into the room. It swooped for her desk, dropping the scroll and nearly crashing into the top at the same time. It swerved around, sounded off once more, and burst into a cloud of raining feathers.

Narrowing her eyes, Tsunade strode to her desk and lifted the scroll into her hands. She hesitated, before unrolleding the scroll. It took her a moment to read, many curious eyes watching her reaction carefully. None of them missed the flicker of surprise that danced through her eyes, but she quickly hid it right after.

"Everyone! You are dismissed. Shizune, collect the Council," Tsunade suddenly ordered, snapping out of her still demeanor.

Naruto blinked, before yelling, "Hey, wait, what did it say?"

"Out, Naruto!" Tsnade barked, and literally kicked him from her office.

**Sakura Haruno**

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I never in my entire life, thought something like this would happen. Then again, there were many things in my life that I never thought would happen and they did. I never thought I would lose my parents and I ended up loosing both, my adopted parents and my real parents. I never expected Konan to be murdered in front of me, but she was. But, honestly, I didn't know how to think at this point. Something like this happening was almost like the apocalypse.

"Pein, are you sure?" I asked him, looked at him with worried eyes.

He sighed, running a hand through his orange locks, "If Orochimaru really is back, this is the only way any of us will be able to defeat him. He escaped the fate of death more then once now, and this is the only option we have left. If they don't accept it, we will have to try and do this on our own, even if they will be against him, too."

If the alliance was accepted then... the Akatsuki and I would be going to Konohagakure, my old home, and the location of my old friends and family.

* * *

**Piper: Tadaaa... I'm sorry if this sucked...**

**Please please please review!**


	22. Face

**Piper: Hiya guys!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 22 - Face

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_Godaime Hokage, Lady Tsunade._

_We of the Akatsuki here by extend an alliance to the Konohagakure and it's fellow allies. A matter has risen that can not be ignored, something I am sure has come to your attention by now. Orochimaru has risen once more. Whether he truly came back from the dead this time, who would know, but he his very much alive now and poses a bigger threat then before. I believe that it is only a short matter of time before either Konoha or the Akatuski are marked. Orochimaru has enough reason to target either of us._

_We may have an idea of what Orochimaru is planning with our inside services, but nothing will be provided to you without this alliance. That is not all we offer, however. For the time of this up coming war and during, we will cease all movement towards collecting the Tailed Beasts. What will come afterward will depend, the plans of the Akatsuki have been strained as of currently._

_It has come to attention that Sasuke Uchiha is once again a resident of Konoha. He must be refrain from attacking our own Uchiha member, Itachi, if this alliance is to go through. The past with them needs to be dug up. If you do not know what I am talking about, then you must find the old files to explain or get your council to explain. The hatchet between them must be buried, if this alliance is to go through at a smooth rate._

_Sign your answer below of one of the feathers of the eagle that burst upon your receiving of the scroll. The answer will come to me personally, and will not endanger the location of our base to any._

_Signed,_

_Leader of the Akatsuki, Pein._

* * *

**Sakura Haruno**

A thick layer of smoky fog blanketed the areas around the outskirts of Konohagakure in the early morning. The air was cool and moist, the rain from the night before leaving its glistening mark on the land. The leaves sank low on their stems, weighed down by the wetness that dripped from their tips and onto the damp forest ground.

We were mere figures in the fog, almost completely cloaked by its density. We moved through the trees, none of us making a single noise as we bounded towards the village. Our chakras were hidden, tucked away. We didn't want anyone to sense us directly, incase this was some kind of trap. Something inside of me doubted it, but there was always a chance. I didn't know if I was prepared to fight through old friends to get to freedom. I didn't know if I was strong enough.

The gates came into view as we got close enough, the fog thinning around us as we approached it. Pein stood at the front of our group, his hat hiding his face from view. He was the one that approached first. After a uncomfortable exchange with the guards, the gates opened and we were allowed into the village. One of the guards disappeared, most likely so that he could tell the Hokage of our arrival.

My heart clenched in my chest as we walked into the village, and I was assaulted by many memories. I was glad I had the standard Akatsuki apparel now, because the hat kept my face hidden. So many emotions were passing through me, I found it hard to keep them from twisting my face however they liked.

This place, I didn't know whether it was home or not. It had been, when I had no memories of my young childhood. But, now, I wasn't sure about that at all. In fact, I nearly felt betrayed by this place. Not only did they _steal_ my memories from me, they took me away from Pein even if they didn't know it. And, aside from that, Konoha was the place where my heart first broken. When Team 7 left me behind, I felt like I had been suffocating. My heart, so shattered it felt like it couldn't receive air, was always heavy after that.

We walked through the streets, and even in the early morning people were already up and about. They would take one look at our cloaks, and their face would morph into some kind of extreme emotion. The most common of them was the raw fear and the utter hatred. It stung me, to see the looks coming from people who used to smile at me when I walked passed. I forced myself to not care.

Finally, we reached the Hokage tower, and we were hidden away from the glaring eyes of the Konoha civilians. My body relaxed slightly, but I kept myself alert. We were completely in this yet, and there was still a chance for fault somewhere along the line. My most feared reaction was for a sudden confrontation, if everything didn't work out. I would choose the Akatsuki if I had to, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't hurt me.

My first sight of a truly familiar face was Shinuze, who looked startled at our silent approach. Her face quickly smoothed out, and hardened. She got up from the chair she had been sitting in and moved towards the doors to the Hokage's office. She stuck her head in, and made sure the occupants of the room were ready. Once confirmed, she held the door open to us with a stony face.

Heart clenching, I didn't look at her face as I passed her. She wouldn't be able to see me, but I didn't want to take a chance of her finding me familiar in anyway. I didn't want to see the hurt and disappointment. I didn't want it just yet. I wasn't ready for this, but I had to deal with it. A war could be just around the corner, and I would have to put my personal problems aside. I would have to be strong, for once in my life.

We entered the room, and there were several familiar faces giving us hard stares. Several people I recognized, and Suna Siblings were there also. I could see Team Gai, Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, and Team Kakashi. Well, the Team Kakashi that left me behind. Aside from my old team, I had the strongest desire to run up and hug my old friends. I didn't know if they would push me away or not, but thinking about that reaction stung.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was a little child, and I grew up with the leader of the Akatsuki, which created the ties between Pein and I. But, when Konoha got ahold of me they wiped my memory clean of everything .The took everything precious to me, but my friends here in Konoha took the place of the memories. When I had my mind erased once more, I didn't know about the Akatsuki being the '_bad guys_' in any way. I was confused and vulnerable. And now that I had all my memories back, I didn't know who belonged where.

Tsunade looked up from her position behind her desk, her amber eyes masked and hardened. She folded her hands in front of her, and spoke, "If this alliance is to go through, we have our own conditions."

Pein nodded, and spoke from beneath his hat, "What are they?"

"First, you will placed under what from ANBU for the first three months you are here, if you stay any longer only then will you get your full privacy back. Second, you will not harm any of the villagers or ninja, and you can only harm unless you are very much provoked or threatened. Those who did the offense can be handled by us, not you. Third, while you are staying here, no cloaks. People already resent you enough, the cloaks are a reminded. You can wear them outside the village, but not in. Fourth, you will not harm any ninja that are our allies," She finally finished, and gave a hardened glance.

Pein towards us, and nodded once. He reached for his hat, and many eyes flickered towards him. The face of the Akatsuki leader would be revealed, and I could see the anxious emotions swimming in their eyes. When the hat came off, and his pierced face was revealed, there were many mixed reactions. Disturbed, shocked, interested, or amused. I smiled behind my the shielding of my hat. I thought Pein's piercings were pretty cool, actually.

He peeled off his cloak, revealing black, standard ninja garb underneath. He wore a black, tight t-shirt with a long sleeve fishnet shirt underneath. His pants were baggy, black ninja pants that tucked into his sandals. It was odd to see him dressed so casually out in the open like this, it made me want to laugh a bit.

The other Akatsuki were slow to follow. Our cloaks weren't just extra protection, but they also had many pockets for storing weapons and food. Getting rid of the cloak would mean having to get pouches, which seemed like a much more... heavy... idea. But, while they were all sour about loosing the storage, I just didn't want to be seen. I didn't want to be out in the open, like Pein looked right now. He was powerful, and I wasn't. He stood tall, and even without his cloak he looked intimidating.

Slowly but surely, the other Akatsuki started taking off their cloaks in hats. I stepped back lightly, and Tobi noticed. His masked face snapped towards me, and I was sure he could feel my chakra shiver despite the fact that it was hidden. He pulled off his own cloak, before bounding over to me with a slightly skip in his step. The Konoha ninja looked at him, not quiet knowing what to think about a skipping Akatsuki member.

"Let Tobi help you, Blossom!" Tobi said, and reached for my hat.

I pulled back slightly, swiftly dodging his hands. Deidara, who had just folded his cloak and put it into a scroll, stomped over. His fist bashed Tobi over the head, and he started yelling at him. The sight was so familiar to me, so normal, that I couldn't help but start to laugh. I reached up and slowly pulled off my hat, eyes shining with mirth. Suddenly, I felt heavy, like there were many eyes on me.

"Sakura," A familiar voice whispered.

The laughter faded from my eyes, and I tilted my head. My eyes clashed with deep blue, filled with pain. I looked away, at the floor, feeling my heart clench painfully. I pulled off my rucksack before my cloak, and placed it into a scroll like Deidara had done. I could feel all the eyes on me take in my appearance.

I wore a black tank top that was a 'v'-neck. It stopped at a nice place, where I was comfortable. Underneath that was a long sleeved fishnet shirt, but you could only see it at my neck, shoulders, and left arm. My right arm was covered by a skin tight black sleeve to cover my scarred arm, starting at the top of my arm, and ran all the way down my arm and into my mothers fighting gloves. The fishnet that showed on the other arm also ran into the gloves, the end of it hidden. I wore baggy black ninja shorts, that went down to just above my knee. I had wrappings around each of my legs, they started inside my shorts and went down into my knee-high ninja boots. Around my waist, my father's dual bladed katana was hiding into its sheath, leaning against my leg slightly. On my right thigh my kunai and senbon pouch was attached.

I didn't like to show my body like a piece of meat like some kunoichi did. I was a ninja, not a slut. I worked on a battle field, not dancing on a pole in some disgusting bar, so I wasn't going to dress like I was. I didn't care about whether or not men wanted to see more skin. If that's all they care for, then they aren't worth it. I wasn't going to change myself to make someone else happy. Not any more.

Tsunade's eyes met mine, and for a moment I felt sour. I felt bad, but I also didn't feel good about Konoha. They stole my childhood from me. I didn't know how to feel about this any more.

"An inn keeper passed away a while ago, it is deserted now. We had someone clean it out, and you will be sleeping there along with a couple of ANBU," She said, and her eyes left me.

Pein walked forward, and held out his hand. Tsunade stared at it for a moment, before stretching her hand across the tabletop and closing her hand around his. They shook, and Tsunade looked around him at us and spoke, "We have documents to sign. All of you are dismissed, an ANBU will show you Akatsuki were you will be staying."

Everyone turned to leave the room, and Tobi swung an arm over my shoulder. He kept up his act well, acting like a small child that was entertained by every little detail. I had to pretend to listen, I was too busy worrying about the eyes I felt on my back as we walked. I didn't know whether they were disappointed stares or not, and I didn't want to.

An ANBU approached us, and told us to follow him to the inn we would be staying in. Once out on the street, we were separated from the Konoha ninja. I sighed out in relief, and Tobi's arm over my shoulders tightened slightly. I looked up at him, and his single showing eye was looking down at me. My breath stopped in my chest, and I watched as his eye was consumed by red. The spinning blackness inside it captured my attention, and I knew he was doing this on purpose.

Frowning slightly, I tore my gaze away from him to look at the back of Kisame's head. I heard him chuckle slightly, and the deep noise made Deidara look at Tobi suspiciously. Tobi covered it up with a child-like coo, running one hand through my hair as he made comments about its smooth, silky texture.

I sighed slightly, and the ANBU dropped us off in front of a decent looking inn.

"This place looks like fucking shit," Hidan commented.

Blinking at him, I said, "It looks nice enough."

Hidan scoffed, "Fuck that!"

"Well, you can't really expect a fine, top-notch place, now can you?" I asked softly, "They hate our guts. We're lucky we're even getting anything this nice at all."

Hidan frowned, before walking towards the door to the inn. He stomped in, and we all filed in after him. It was homey on the inside, the ground floor the kitchen/ eating area. A set of stairs must've been what lead to the rooms, and I headed up them. Tobi was following behind, and suddenly I was alert. He wanted something, he was clinging to me more then normal in his "excited, naive" cover.

I found a room, and turned the knob. It was unlocked, so it opened easily. I moved inside, and Tobi did the same. He shut the door behind him, and the room dropped a few degrees. I dropped my back pack on the floor, and turned to look at him just as he pulled his mask from his face. The dark haze still covered any definition I could see, and I swallowed slightly, nervous.

He moved towards me, dropping his own rucksack to the floor. I slowly backed away at the predatorily feeling that was coming from him.

"You're confused," He said, his deep voice like a flip of a coin from his fake voice, "Don't let these Konoha ninja mess with your head. You know what they did to you, so why should you still care for them?"

I stared at the floor, and backed right into the bed. I fell onto my butt, sitting on the edge of the bed. I stared at my hands, almost feeling scolded. Tobi was my teacher, and I knew that he didn't like all the weakness I held. I felt like I was disappointing him every time I let myself down. I hadn't shown him my arm yet, only Itachi, Kisame, and Pein knew of my scars. I was afraid to, seeing that my scars were a result of another failure. Another weakness.

Tobi kneeled before me, so close that I could smell him. The wet, earthy smell of Amegakure had rubbed off on him like it had most of us, and I felt myself calm at the smell. It was almost like the smell of home. I closed my eyes slightly, before they snapped open. There was a pressure against my face.

I looked at Tobi, who was holding a hand to my face. I could see a smirk on his lips, and my eyes widened. I could see his lips. There wasn't a haze. I watched, eyes fascinated, as the blur began to slowly ebb away from his features. My heart skipped a beat as I realized just how good looking his face was. His red eyes made me stop, and pause.

Tobi was an Uchiha. How was that possible, if Itachi killed all of the clan except for Sasuke and himself. My brain tried to process this, but the distraction kept me from noticing Tobi's movements. My brain snapped like a rubber band when I felt a soft pressure against my lips, and my eyes got so wide I felt like they were about to pop out of my head.

His hand tightened on my face, keeping me in place as his lips moved against mine. My heart beat was so loud, so violent, I was surprised that it wasn't bursting from my chest in a bloody burst. Slowly, I closed my eyes to lean into the kiss. A tear slipped from the corner of my eyes as I pressed my lips back against his slowly, and it trailed down my cheek. It hit his hand, and his thumb ran across the tear trail to wipe away the wetness.

After a few moments he pulled away, and I took my chance at comfort. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. A couple more tears escaped, but that was it. I didn't allow myself any more. Just staying like this, helped me some how. Tobi didn't exactly hold me back, but he place a hand on my right arm. It was odd, but where he touched seemed to radiate a comforting heat.

When I was done, I pulled away, embarrassment coloring my face. But, he just smirked at me, before he stood up straight. He turned to leave, placing his mask back onto his face. He called to me over his shoulder, "Meet Tobi at the training grounds tonight, Blossom! Tobi still has many things to teach Blossom!"

I blinked slowly. He came in, told me I was confused, kissed me, and left with me now more confused then ever.

* * *

**Piper: Bet you weren't expecting a kiss, huh?**

**Please please please review!**


	23. Telling

**Piper: Hiya!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 23 - Telling

* * *

**Sakura Haruno**

For the rest of the day I stayed in my room. I didn't want to talk with anyone, really. I didn't feel like socializing. My thoughts were too heavy, and my lips were still tingling from the kiss I had shared with Tobi earlier. I was so confused, so conflicted. It was bad enough that I was so confused on my feelings about Konoha, but now Tobi had deemed it time to start playing with my emotions like a kitten with a ball of yarn. I was slightly angry with him, but the part of me that was still hung up on the kiss overpowered the anger.

I sighed loudly, and looked at the clock. It was almost time for me to leave and visit Tobi. I didn't know if an ANBU would follow me or not, but Tobi was a good enough ninja. He wouldn't do anything that would end up getting us in trouble with the ANBU. At least I hoped not, because his newly found mischievous nature. Well, not newly found, but much more prominent then before.

Shaking my head, I got up from my bed and moved towards the bathroom. I cleaned myself up a bit before I got my things around so that I could go train with Tobi. I didn't shower, knowing that after training I would need one much more then I did then. Besides, I didn't stink and I was clean enough.

I exited my room, feeling around with my chakra. Everyone else was in their rooms, even the ANBU. I made no attempts at hiding my chakra, knowing that if I did it would be suspicious. I wasn't doing anything wrong. So what if I was training late at night? It was none of their business at what period of the days I trained, and I would make sure they knew that if they ever confronted me about it. Just because I was part of the Akatsuki, didn't mean that I would let them disrespect me, or my fellow members.

As I traveled towards the training grounds, I could feel an ANBU member tailing after me in the shadows. Their chakra was well hidden, but with my new training I could sense a tiny bit. Besides that, they were trailing close enough that I could pick on very miniscule movements in the shadows. Some ninja wouldn't be able to, but I was proud that my training allowed me to do so. It showed that I have been progressing, and that I wasn't the same ninja that I was before.

I sensed Tobi's chakra once I neared the training ground, but noticed that it wasn't the strong, over-bearing chakra he normally displayed during our training. It was his fake chakra show, the weaker, less powerful chakra he had when he was around everyone else. It was good that he was thinking of these things, but I knew that he would. He was very smart that way.

As I approached where I sensed his chakra, I grew nervous. I mean, what was I to feel? He had unexpectedly kissed me. I didn't know if it was out of feelings, or if he wanted to play with me. I couldn't let it effect me, because if he was just playing with me then I would only end up hurt. I couldn't take anymore. I had grow stronger physically, but my mentality was one giant wound, a knife painfully stuck inside. Every time someone left me, or hurt me, the knife twisted and dug. I couldn't, _wouldn't_, take anymore.

"Hiya Blossom!" Tobi trilled, bouncing towards me once I was within his sight.

I nodded to him, and asked quietly, "What are we going to be working on today?"

For some reason, I could feel him grinning from beneath his mask.

* * *

I groaned into my pillow, the sound of loud knocking on the door waking me up from what had been my five minute sleep. I felt like crying, along with the rest of my aching muscles. Tobi and I had a full out training _battle_, all into the night an until about ten minutes ago. It was now eight o'clock in the morning. Every single inch of me ached and throbbed, and even the slightest movements made me want to throw up. I didn't even have enough chakra to make myself feel better.

We had fought very messily, too. The training ground looked just like I felt, destroyed. Broken, snapped, charred, and destroyed trees had been littered across the grounds. The ground was utterly torn up, broken, and cracked. My fists of terror hard torn up just about everything they hit, including the few times I had landed a hit on Tobi. I was getting better, but that didn't make me any less beat up.

"Oi! Get your ass out here and fucking cook us breakfast!" Hidan yelled from outside the door, pounding on the wooden slab dividing us from each other.

"Get it yourself!" I yelled tiredly, to weak to lift my face completely from the pillow.

My reply must have stunned him for a few moments. I had never made them cook for themselves, I was always willing to do it for them. I still would've been, if I didn't start dry heaving every time I moved too fast. I had no sleep, and no energy. Sleep was calling me, but Hidan's yelling and pounding was keeping me just barely awake.

After a few moments of blissful silence, he seemed to snap out of his stupor and yelled, "Fuck that!"

There was a loud crackling snap as my door suddenly flew off its hinges from Hidan's mighty punch. It crashed into the wall on the other side of the room, and seemed to obliterate into tiny wood chips. I groaned in agony as he stomped over to the bed, picked me up, and threw me onto his shoulder. I let myself go limp on his shoulders, and started falling asleep even though my head was collecting blood from being hung upside down like I was.

"Hidan, what are you doing?" I heard Pein ask from far off, but I didn't bother opening my eyes.

"Getting some damn breakfast, what the hell are you doing?" Hidan carelessly shot back, and started to walk down the stairs.

I groaned loudly as the bumpy steps jostled my weak body, feeling dizzy even though I kept my eyes closed. I felt around weakly with my chakra, and noticed that most of the Akatsuki were now downstairs, along with the ANBU. Some of them were missing, however.

I groaned as Hidan placed his hands on my hips and easily picked me up from his shoulder. He placed me onto my feet, and I opened my eyes just in time to watch the world spin as I fell over.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hidan questioned, picking me back up and holding my shoulders to keep me steady.

I heard a giggle come from behind, and suddenly Tobi was speaking, "That would be Tobi's fault. Tobi's so sorry Blossom! Tobi will be more gentle next time!"

There was a collective silence, and I instantly knew that everyone had taken that the wrong way, just as Tobi seemed to have intended. I swayed on my feet, feeling annoyance build up inside me. I weakly lifted my hands to my ear, preparing for the bomb about to go off. But even the barrier of my hands didn't block out the shouting that was to come.

"What the fuck?" Hidan roared angrily, taking his hand off me to go for Tobi.

"Tobi, you little shit, yeah!" Deidara yelled from somewhere behind me.

From the corners of my eyes I could see the rest of the Akatsuki standing up from the kitchen table, all of them focusing on Tobi with their chakras flaring out dangerously. I felt satisfied for a moment, listening as there was collective noises of violence coming from behind me. I waited a bit before I corrected them, happy that Tobi was getting a little bit of what I had felt during training.

"Guys," I finally spoke, my voice soft and weak.

They continued their violence, and I carefully moved my body to face them. I waited a moment, watching as Hidan kicked Tobi in the stomach. Tobi pleaded for my help, to which I just gave him a blank stare. I saw his eye glint mischievously from behind his mask, and it was then that he knew I was getting my revenge for training, and his implication that he and I had slept together just to get a reaction out of the Akatsuki.

"Guuuyyss," I groaned slightly, watching as Kisame spun Tobi in a full on circle by the edge of his collar.

I was growing irritated at being ignored so much. I waited a few more moments, seeing that I once again went unheard. I nudged at their chakras, trying to get their attention. Nothing worked, so finally I just settled for a woman's number one maneuver at getting attention. Raising her voice obnoxiously loud.

"_Guys_!" I yelled loudly, straining my voice painfully.

They paused, looking at me almost innocently. Hidan was in mid-swing, his knuckles inches away from the back of Tobi's head. Deidara had Tobi by the collar, his foot seconds away from slamming into the masked man's stomach. Kisame had him in a painful head lock, and hadn't released pressure even as he paused. I could've sworn I saw some of Kakuzu's tentacles wrapped around Tobi's ankles. Itachi was standing behind Kisame. Pein was hovering around the fight, his eyes glinting dangerously. Sasori's chakra, from what I could sense, was still upstairs. I didn't know where Zetsu was.

"Training, we were training, not what ever you think it was. If you want proof, ask the ANBU, and go take a look at one of the training grounds," I stated weakly, looking at them tiredly.

They all blinked, and slowly moved away from the masked man. Kisame let go of his head, and he dropped to the floor in a bruised heap. I looked at him, amused, before I turned away and started for the stairs. I passed Sasori, who was now standing at the bottom of the steps with a slightly confused expression on his face.

He opened his mouth as I passed him, and I quickly butted in, "Don't ask."

* * *

After taking a solid nap, I felt a bit better once I had completely woken up at noon. I took a quick shower, which soothed my aching muscles beyond belief. I placed on my usual ninja garb, including my sleeve. I kept it on at all times any more, even when I slept. It was irritating, but I couldn't let the others see. Thankfully, Pein, Kisame, and Itachi had kept it to themselves so no one else knew. Yet. There was always a yet, a chance that one of them would find out about my disgraceful scars.

I walked downstairs, spotting one of the ANBU. I searched around with my chakra, but he answered for me.

"Your friends went to the training grounds."

Nodding towards him, I moved to leave. He got up from his spot on the couch and followed, annoying me slightly. I ignored his presence, and left the inn. I ignored the stares of civilians and ninja as I walked towards the training grounds. It didn't take to long to get there, the inn wasn't to far away. I passed a few, and I couldn't hold back the sad smile on my face when I saw a team fresh out of the academy and their sensei. I turned away from them, feeling my heart ache for those days. The days were ignorance was bliss, and we were truly a team. Now, Team Seven was only shattered remains. Who knew if the pieces would ever be put together again.

I passed a training ground, and saw the last people I wanted to see at the moment. They didn't notice me at first, they were engrossed in training. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Naruto, and Sasuke. It surprised me that even Kakashi joined in on the sparring, but, then again, back then I guess we were too fragile to completely fight him. I was too fragile. He wouldn't teach me, even though it was his responsibility. I couldn't help but feel both disappointed in myself, and him. Myself for not going to someone else for help, and him for leaving me in the dirt while he focused on his two favorites.

Just as I was almost in the clear, Naruto noticed me. He stopped, alerting the others. They all stopped, and I turned away from them. My heart pounded in my chest painfully, but I noticed that my feet had stopped walking. I swallowed heavily, and willed myself to move or talk. Either of the two was better then standing there like a fool.

"Sakura," Naruto murmured, looking at me with those large, blue eyes.

I swallowed a mouthful of pain, and dared to look him directly in the eyes. I saw a face so familiar, yet so foreign to me. A faced that had aged out of its childhood innocents, yet looked so pure. It was one big oxymoron. My feelings towards all of them was a giant oxymoron. I was happy, yet sad. Longing, yet wanting to push them away. Finally, everything settled onto just being upset. I wanted to know how they could just leave me like they did. I wanted to know why they didn't take me with them.

Yet, I wanted to run.

I tensed slightly, but didn't move. I couldn't run away from this.

"Hello," I said quietly.

They stared at me, and we slipped into an uncomfortable silence. I pursed my lips. I couldn't just stand here forever, staring at them. I didn't want to sink into this awkwardness. I waited for a few moments, before I sighed lightly and turned to walk away.

"So," Naruto suddenly spoke, "The Akatsuki, huh?"

I looked at him from over my shoulder, before I turned around. I nodded, answering his question. His fists clenched at his sides, before he spoke once more, "Why?"

"I didn't," I replied, "I was running away from here when they captured me and erased my memories."

"Then why are you still with them?" Kakashi asked.

I couldn't fight the small smile on my lips, "They're important to me."

Naruto looked hurt for a moment, and stared at the floor. Then, he realized something, and looked up, his eyes shining slightly, "So, you remember us now?"

My eyes hardened slightly. He seemed a bit struck by my look, and my heart squeezed painfully. I pushed away my softer feelings, and replied in a hushed tone, "Yes, I remember everything in my life. All the fun, the laughter, the adventure, and the pain."

They looked at me, seeming to catch that I was implying something in my tone. I watched them try to figure out what I meant, and let them settle into their thoughts before I spoke again. I took in a small breath through my nose, and said out loud, "Even the memories that Konoha stole from me when I was small."

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, his sole eye studying me carefully.

I closed my eyes softly, and spoke aloud, "My name is Sakura Haruno. I was born in Amegakure, and I lived in a house just outside the village with my parents, Sayuri and Ryota Haruno. They were great ninja, powerful and caring. Before I was born they took two orphans from Amegakure into their home. A blue haired girl named Konan, and a orange haired boy named Pein. I was born, and grew up with the two acting as my siblings. One day, my family was attacked. We fled, myself only a young toddler. My mother had been carrying me until the ninja chasing us had caught up.

Mother handed me to Konan, and told my siblings to run. They ran, and my parents faced their deaths at the hands of the enemy. One ninja caught up to us, and Pein battled him. He had been doing well defending himself, but the ninja found an opening. He almost killed Pein, but Konan pushed him out of the way. The ninja killed Konan with one swing, and I watched the life slip away from the girl I considered my sister. Pein had to go and bury their bodies, leaving me alone. Konoha ninja came.

They decided that the best for me, would be to take me to Konohagakure and erase my memories. They _stole_ my young childhood, and they stole the memories I had of my real family. They gave me a fake family, who I believed was my real family for the longest time. I found out the truth once the seal Konoha had put on me broke."

Team Seven was silent as I finished up the truth of my story.

Kakashi then spoke, "I knew it was only a short time before you found out."

* * *

**Piper: Sorry, it's short, but it's getting across what need be!**

**Please Review!**


	24. Broken

**Piper: Hey guys! I'm so happy right now! This story made it to 400 reviews, all because of you! Thank you so much!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 24 - Broken

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**Sakura Haruno**

A soft wind washed in an uncomfortable silence, and I felt my hair ruffle along with the breeze. I tried to take in a breath of air to calm my nerves, but my lungs wouldn't allow it. They clenched painfully, and I felt my face twist in hurt. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I didn't want to. I didn't want to think that it was true. I hoped that he was just kidding, but even I knew deep inside that he wasn't.

It took me a moment to keep myself calm, before I whispered, "You knew..."

Kakashi nodded and I noticed that his single eye wouldn't meet mine.

I closed my eyes, and tried to think. My stomach was curled so tight, filled with pain. Tears built up in my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall. I relished in the pain, and grew tired. I was tired of just embracing my pain and wallowing in it. It was time to do something more then let myself be run over, not only by the people in my life but by my own emotions. It was time to be strong, the one thing I never believe I could be. Because everyone else made me believe that I wasn't.

I sniffled slightly, but then open my eyes. Team Seven looked startled at the look in my eyes and watched I let my hand fall to my side. My fingers touched the handle of my dual-bladed katana. I could almost feel my parent's within me as the will to fight my fears rose up, the will to fight and prove my worth. My mother's gloves seemed warm around my hand, and I grasped the handle of my katana.

In one swift movement I effortlessly pulled the katana from it's sheath. My old team watched, startled, as I gave it a swift test swipe, before pointing the tips of the blades towards them. I raised my head in challenge, and began to step into the training field.

Kakashi, who seemed very aware of my blade, spoke loudly, "Sakura, I was ordered to not tell you the truth. Many of the village were. You were the daughter of an unknown ninja, and we wanted-"

"To use me," I spouted, "But I guess that failed for you, because the only thing I had ever been told since I starting being a ninja was that I was too weak. Well, not anymore. I'm not going to listen to what you say, because the last person I would ever want to hear anything from is any of you. I cared about you, but you basically threw it in my face."

"Sakura," Naruto began sadly, trailing off.

I continued to advance, and they slowly tensed in preparation, "I'm tired of lies, and I'm tired of being belittled by you, and others in the village. I was always considered the weak member of Team Seven, and people started treating me like it. You all made me feel like a nuisance every time to you stepped in front of me, every time you protected, and every time you stole my chance of growing. I wasn't weak by nature, I was weak because my Teammates were sexist men who believed that just because I was girl that I needed to be protected. I had a Team that didn't give a flying fuck on how I progressed, or how I would turn out."

"It wasn't like that!" Naruto insisted, his blue eyes widened with each word I spoke.

I snapped, "The tell me why things ended up this way, Naruto! Tell me why we stand here, on two different sides. Tell me why I'm finding out that a chunk of my life was pure lies fed to me by this _amazing_ village. Tell me why I had to completely reinvent myself as a ninja, learn many things over again, because I wasn't able to do _shit_ before!"

Naruto looked down at the ground, his face twisting in pain. Kakashi's eye flickered at my shout of having to be re-taught, and I turned towards him.

"Why didn't you teach me?" I asked, my voice slowly going quiet, "Why wasn't I important enough for you to train? Why didn't you care? What happened to your whole team-work motto? Or was that just some bull-shit you fed us because you had to?"

Sai and Yamato were standing off to the side now, knowing that they weren't completely part of this. Sai was looking between me and the other three men with a slightly curious look on his face. He seemed to be observing every reaction and every word with extreme care and silence. I was guessing that he hadn't gotten much better with his emotions.

"What gives you the right to blame your weakness on us?" Sasuke suddenly spoke up in his emotionless tone, looking at me with the dark eyes that used to make me feel happy on the inside.

His words wounded me for a moment, before I laughed bitterly. I threw my head back, and felt my shoulders shaking along with my toneless laughing.

"It's not all your fault," I said once my laughter subsided, "It was mine, too. Because I didn't go to someone for help. I didn't ask someone else to help me when I was neglected, because I didn't want to leave Team Seven. I didn't think about it, because I honestly thought that I was an equal part of the team, but I was wrong. I didn't realize it at first, but after a while I started to realize how under developed I was as a ninja. And when I tried to put more effort in, I was turned away because my own Sensei was too busy focusing on his star pupils.

And then, once you left to go play depressed avenger the real abandonment came. Kakashi seemed to disappear, and Naruto went off to train. I can't blame him for that, I understand that he wanted to get strong so that he could bring you home, but I wanted to get stronger, too. And no one was there to help me. So I went to Tsunade. I trained with her, became as strong as I thought I could be. Then, Naruto came back. Of course, that trigger Kakashi to start showing up more, and when he was absent we had Yamato. Sai joined the team, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay now that I could hold my weight.

I was wrong. Because the next thing I now, I'm the only member of my team left because you left me behind because I apparently wasn't strong enough to drag your ass back home. And I had enough. So I cut the leaf insignia from my headband, and I left."

Naruto looked up, and his eyes looked a bit glossy, "Sakura, I'm so sor-"

I cut him off, holding the blade of my sword towards him, "No more words. They're meaningless. I want you all to fight me."

Their eyes seemed to widen, and Naruto backed away from my blade with wide eyes.

"Sakura," Kakashi said slowly.

I raised my chin in defiance, and spat out, "Let me show you just how _weak_ I am!"

"Sakura."

I turned slowly, looking over my shoulder to where the voice had come from. Along the sidelines stood the rest of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai, and the Akatsuki. It had been Pein who had spoke, and I looked for his approval to the fight. He nodded, making me smile slightly. Kisame gave me a toothy grin, and I got a thumbs up from Deidara.

"Kick some fucking ass!" Hidan cursed out, causing some of the Konoha nin to glance at him either startled or disgusted.

I chuckled, and turned back toward my old team. We had a stare off for a few moments, but I got bored soon enough. I blinked slowly, before I shot forward. They dispersed quickly, jumping backwards and away from the swipe of my blade. I picked out Naruto, who was closer, and went for him. He gasped, and quickly tried dodging each swipe.

"Sakura, stop!" I heard Kakashi yell, and I felt a movement charge towards me.

Twirling around, I swung my blade out, and Kakashi blocked the blow with the metal protectors on his knuckles. I looked up right in the eye, and smirked. I growled slightly, "Let me show you what the Akatsuki have taught me."

I thrust out my free hand, and he swung around to catch it in his palm. I used him to flip myself over, removing my blade from his knuckles. I swung out, towards his back. He moved to deflect it, releasing my fist. I jumped away, and dodged a blow from Sasuke. I stared at him, slightly surprised that anyone was participating in this willingly. I brushed it off, dodged Naruto's thrown shuriken, and swung my blade towards Sasuke.

He moved around the blow and lashed out with his leg. I arched backwards, avoiding the kick to my face. In turn I grabbed his ankle, and threw him aside roughly. He landed on his feet swiftly, just as I dodged Kakashi. I threw myself towards Naruto, just as he was about to do me. His azure eyes widened, and I threw out my free fist. It caught him in the chest, and he flew back. He crashed straight through two trees, and dented the third tree to bend at an odd angle.

I darted toward Kakashi and swung my fist towards his face, sheathing my sword with my other hand. He caught my fist once more, and I threw out my other fist. He caught it with his other hands, and I used to his weight to lift my feet. I placed them against his chest, and his eye widened as I suddenly kicked them out. He flew away, crashing into Sasuke as the dark-haired male had moved forward.

I heard a sudden cry from behind me.

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

Turning, I found myself seeing multiple copies of my old blonde-haired team mate. I swallowed, and knew that I could just punch my way through all these clones. But they knew that, too. I would get injured if I fought through every single clone to get to the real deal. I came to a conclusion on what I had to do, but it scared me. I didn't know how it would turn out again.

I pulled the glove off of my right hand and tucked it into my kunai pouch. I pinched the edge of my sleeve, and paused. I swallowed heavily, and watched as the clones began to advance. I quickly pulled the sleeve from my arm, revealing my jagged scars. I heard a few people gasp from the side lines, and tried to fight my shame.

I went into rapid hand signs, before I summoned my chakra and shouted, "Elemental fist: Lightning!"

Electricity sparked around the tips of my fingers, then grew stronger. The electricity grew larger, my whole fist surrounded by a blinding light of crackling energy. I lunged forward and swung. My fist tore through the clones like a hot knife through butter. I pushed forward, tearing through their non-existent flesh and sending them back from where they came from.

The electricity faded from my hand just as I found the real Naruto, and I swung. My fist connected to his face, and he flew back. The force of the punch knocked him right out, and his limp body tumbled as it hit the ground.

I stood up straight, knowing that the fight was now over. I turned to face everyone, and saw mixed emotions all over. I looked at the Akatsuki, and saw that they seemed satisfied and proud. I pulled my sleeve back over my scars, and then my glove. I walked past the motionless Team Seven and towards the Akatsuki.

"Sakura," I heard someone murmur, and saw that it was Kiba.

I blinked at him slowly, and smiled slightly. Suddenly, I was crushed to Tobi's chest.

"Tobi is so _proud_ of you Blossom! Blossom is so strong, even though she was weak from all the training Tobi made her do earlier! Blossom was very tired after she and Tobi tore up that field training so hard!" He cooed, rubbing his masked face against mine in what seemed to be affection.

"Wait, you two were the ones who practically obliterated that training field?" Tenten asked, her eyes widening in shock.

I nodded silently, and felt slight pride well up in me when I got many looks of shock. I kept silent, and closed my eyes. I turned away from them, and began to slowly walk away. I felt the Akatsuki follow me as I headed back towards the hotel, my heart heavy and wounded. I kept my head down, but suddenly found myself swooped into arms.

"Tobi and Blossom can hang out in Tobi's room, so that Tobi can help Blossom feel better!" Tobi purred, and I felt the murderous-killing intent coming from the Akatsuki once more.

"Come here, you little fucker! You're fucking asking to get the shit beat out of you!" Hidan roared, yelling towards us.

I burst into laughter as Tobi shrieked, and began to run away with me still in his arms. I looked over his shoulder, and saw most of the Akatsuki chasing us. Hidan was the closet one, Deidara and Kisame not far behind. I continued to laugh, feeling the sadness inside of me be pushed aside for the time being.

They always seemed to know how to make me feel better, no matter what.

**No Point of View**

The rest of Rookie Nine and Team Gai watched as the Akatsuki left, their cherry blossom with them. When they were out of sight, they turned towards Team Seven. They seemed to have an aura of sadness radiating from them. They watched as Kakashi picked up Naruto's limp body, and excused himself to take Naruto to the hospital for treating.

Sasuke was staring at the ground hard, his eyes set in a glare.

"It seems nothing has been fixed, even now," Neji mused, and turned to walk away.

Sasuke glared at his retreating figure, watching as the Hyuuga's team mates followed. He cursed himself for letting her walk away without hearing more of their apologies. It wasn't Team Seven without her, even the Uchiha would admit that. There had always been a comforting touch the being with the Team when she was with them. Now that she was gone it felt like a piece of himself was missing, a piece of the team was missing. He wondered if this was how they had felt when he had left them.

He looked back up and saw that the rest of their audience had left, and he could feel Yamato and Sai staring at him. He scoffed loudly, and disappeared.

"I don't understand," Sai mused, "Why is Ugly so upset that they can't make up?"

Yamato placed a hand on his shoulder and began to lead him away from the training grounds, "I'll explain."

In the hospital, Kakashi left as soon as he had gotten Naruto into a room. He went to go visit the K.I.A. stone, wishing the drown himself in his thoughts and sorrow for just a little while. The blonde haired member of the Team woke up a few hours later, seeming to jump out of a nightmare as he screamed out the name of his old, pink-haired teammate in sorrow.

Team Seven was broken, the pink-glue that held them together seemingly long gone now.

* * *

**Piper: Sadness... Sorry this was short again, but I didn't have much to fit in this chapter except for this.**

**Please Review!**


	25. Determination

**Piper: Sorry this is late guys, I started school again. I know, no excuses, and I'm very sorry. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 25 - Determination

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**Sakura Haruno**

I'd be a liar if I said that I didn't miss the past. But, which past was always hard to distinguish. I couldn't picture myself having both in the same life. There was me, a small child with a loving family. Then, there was me surrounded by those who loved me, even thought they didn't truly believe in me. There was the past with Pein, and Konan. Then, there was the past with Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. My brain had troubles getting all of it to click together, but eventually I figured out the time line of how things went in my life. Even then, they didn't seem to match well.

"Why is Blossom so sad?" Tobi chirped, joining me in sitting on the large window sill.

I shook my head, staring at the empty room around us. Every one else had gone up to bed a while ago, even the ANBU living with us had retreated. Tobi and I had been on two separate sides of the room, but he had bounded over quite quickly once the last one to retreat of stairs was out of hearing and sight.

He hummed lightly and leaned over, his arms stretching towards me. He easily picked me up and pulled me over to his side of the window sill. He sat me between his legs, my back against his chest, his arms caging me in.

I blushed heavily, but couldn't help leaning into the warmth of his touch. I could feel the warmth of his breath breezing out from under his mask, the soft, warm current hitting the back of my neck. Goose bumps rose up on my skin, and I shivered in his hold. Despite the shiver, despite the bumps, I couldn't help but lean back in his embrace. In the state I was in I longed for comfort, and I found the pain inside of me slowly lighten at the touch of someone I care for.

Tobi moved his hand up and cupped the side of my face, tilting my head backwards onto his shoulder. I watched as he pulled his mask off to the side of his face, his sharingan eyes twirling. His lips quirked slightly, and his thumb ghosted across my cheek. I felt my chest seize up, but I placed my hand in front of my lips as he went down to capture them with his.

He grumbled unhappily, and looked at me with his blood red eyes, and I whispered, "Don't use me because I'm vulnerable, Tobi. I don't know how much more I can take anymore, and I won't be used for your enjoyment."

The words sounded braver then I felt, because after the words tumbled from my lips I felt as though I was about to loose my life. But, Tobi's face stretched into a smirk.

"Don't be silly, Blossom," He giggled in his fake voice, his eyes closing tightly due to how wide his grin was, before pressing his lips to mine.

My heart rate accelerated and I felt one-hundred butterflies flutter around inside my stomach wildly. My throat almost closed at the sudden warmth and feelings that flooded me, my need to breath the last thing on my mind. I could almost feel emotions from him, pouring into me with each second that went by. I flooded with a light warmth that I had never felt before, and I found myself tentatively pushing my lips back against his, and felt I Tobi give my arm and reassuring squeeze in response.

He pulled away, and I took in a much needed breath, my face flushing with embarrassment. He chuckled deeply, and I could feel the chuckle from my position. My face darkened further in embarrassment, and he smirked at me.

"Tobi-," I started, but the man cut me off before I began.

"Madara," He stated, his deep, rich voice sounding as though he were introducing a totally different person.

My brows drew together, the name sounding slightly familiar. I pushed the thought away, and looked up at him, "Madara is your real name?"

Madara's fingers touched my cheek softly, his face in thought as he spoke, "Yes, it is my real name, Blossom."

The nickname sounded so much different coming from his real, rich-as-chocolate tone then his child-like coo. It was so odd, yet seemingly welcomed by my weakened mind. I rested my head in the crook of his neck, my eyes fluttering. I snapped them open, trying to push the newly found tiredness away from my mind, but I was struggling.

"Sleep," Madara commanded, running his fingers through my hair on one side.

His deep, rumbling tone the lullaby that pushed me over the edge of consciousness and into the abyss of sleep.

* * *

Something was missing when I woke, curled up alone on the window sill. My human pillow was gone, but only recently. I could still feel the lingering warmth of his body, my back and arms suddenly much colder from the lack of a heat source.

My eyes fluttered tiredly, and I felt someone approached me. A hand touched my shoulder, and I opened my eye, which were, no doubt, glossed with the haze of sleep in their depths. I saw Kisame staring down at me, a lopsided, sharky grin on his face.

"Did you sleep down here, Kid?" He asked, chuckling when I nodded sleepily.

He reached down and picked me up, into his arms. I groaned in protest, causing another chuckle to come from him. He walked over to the kitchen side of the bottom floor and sat me in one of the barstool. He went into the kitchen, and it was quite a few minute before he came back out with two rather larger, steaming cups of coffee.

I reached for mine almost excitedly, and took it carefully from his grasp so that I wouldn't touch the scalding hot sides of the mug. I didn't hesitate to put the rim to my lips gently and take a large gulp. I couldn't even taste the flavor, the burning hot liquid swimming down my throat like fast lava running down a volcano side. I took in a deep breath after, the cool air soothing my angry hot throat.

Kisame chuckled at my actions, and sipped from his own, slightly larger, mug.

Slowly, but surely, more Akatsuki filed down the stairs as the morning drug on. Kisame and I were both on our forth cup of coffee by the time all of the Akatsuki and the ANBU were fully awake. During that time I had made a mountain of pancakes, offering it not only to my fellow Akatsuki, but to the ANBU also. Even though they were quite the stealth kind of ninja, I could see their masked faces turning towards the food every now and again. Even though I got no thanks for allowing them to eat the food I cooked, I could tell that they did appreciate it on some level. It was nothing more then I expected to by treated as an Akatsuki member.

"Today we are going in to meet with the Akatsuki and some of her top ninja to discuss more about the war," Pein said between bites of his pancake.

I closed my eyes tiredly, before finishing my pancakes and heading up stairs to freshen myself up for the day. I took a shower and dressed in a clean set of my attire, before meeting my fellow Akatsuki down stairs. Madara latched himself onto my arm childishly, rubbing his cheek against mine almost happily.

"Tobi, get the fuck off of her!" Hidan growled threateningly, his eyes not the only set glaring at the masked man.

Madara whined in his false tone, but slowly released me. After all of his _hilarious_ comments, the Akatsuki had been a bit touchy with Tobi being to close to me, suspecting him of something. Exactly _what_ they suspected of him, I didn't exactly know, but I guessed it wasn't very kind of them. I just the situation alone. It was funny to me, and I knew very well that if Madara wanted to be near me he would do so when the others weren't around, so that he could be himself.

"Is everyone ready to head out?" Pein asked, sounding bored already. If I knew him, and I was almost positive that I did, than he didn't want to go to this meeting any more then I did.

"No," Just about everyone groaned in response to the question, several shoulders slumping down.

Pein gave us all a stern look, and led us out of the Inn, our ANBU stalkers trailing lazily behind. Lazily, yes, but most definitely alert. I could tell by how they walked, even though it was a relaxed stance, their muscles were still tense incase any of us were to try and pull a move. I couldn't help the scoff that came from my lips, realizing that they didn't trust us in the slightest even after an alliance had built a bridge between us and them, along with their allies.

We walked down the familiar streets, and without my Akatsuki cloak I felt completely exposed to the people of Konoha. I could feel them glance at me, wondering what happened the pinkette of Team 7, now the pinkette of the Akatsuki. If this question had been asked out loud at the time, the only thing I could've replied with was 'I don't know'. Not because I didn't know, because I was very much aware of how Team 7 shattered, I just didn't know how to explain it.

When we entered Tsunade's office, I felt suddenly much colder to the room. Everyone was there once more, and they were examining us Akatsuki as we entered. I swallowed nervously, and felt someone hold onto my hand carefully, and I looked up, my eyes surprised at what they gazed upon.

Itachi looked straight ahead, but gave my hand a strong squeeze with his own. He was going through just what I was, he understood. He was a former Konoha nin, but he still seemed to care for this old village just as I still did. And I could tell that he was hoping to try and repair things with Sasuke, to tell him the truth of everything. He wanted to have family again, just like Sasuke did. They would never be extremely close again, but maybe filling in the gaps and telling the truth could give them both their brother back.

I squeezed his hand back, showing him that I was there for him just as he was for me. This was a surprise to me, and I knew that if it were any other kind of situation Itachi wouldn't have done this. This wasn't his nature, but even the strongest ninja feel vulnerable at times. And if he felt like I did at this moment, this was about as vulnerable as it gets. Facing loved ones that you have disappointed, or are disappointed in.

His hand left mine as we stilled in the room, but he stuck next to my side. Hidan was on my left, and he, too, was standing close to me. We Akatsuki were like a wall of protection, and we stood together almost as if we were one. I smiled slightly at the thought, but knew that some of the Akatsuki didn't feel exactly friendly towards one another. But, we were in this together. All of us were in the same boat, in a village that didn't truly want us, fighting a war no one except for the enemy wanted to fight.

I avoided the eyes trying to catch mine. I wouldn't fall into that trap. I knew that the moment I looked into any of their eyes, I would begin to hurt once more. I was tired of the hurt and pain. Breaking down was no longer an option now that a war was on the horizon, and I would fight against any and all who tried to break me again. Even if I died trying.

"We need to start thinking about who we're going to send out, and try to figure out when Orochimaru will attack," Tsunade began, standing up from behind her desk. "We need to start making plans, and we need to start now. Who will attack first will depend on just how safe it is. We leaked Sasuke of all the information he had of anything Orochimaru related," She gave the younger Uchiha a glare, as if she suspected him of holding something back from and if she found out she did then she would beat the life from him.

"We will need some of your best for stealth," Tsunade told Pein.

Pein glanced over all of us, and motioned forward Zetsu, Itachi, and, surprisingly, me. I almost choked as I stepped forward with the other two of Akatsuki.

"This mission you will be required for is an infiltration mission. We need to get inside one of Orochimaru's bases and see just how much we can dig up. We need to find just about anything that can help us get the upper hand. War plans, weaknesses, anything of the like that could potentially help us. This mission will come around sometime next week, you three will be working with a few of the people in this room. I will have who and when you leave sorted out soon," Tsunade said, and looked each of us in the eye.

I froze when her eyes paused on mine, before I tightened my slightly slack jaw and professionalized my expression. She looked away from me, and went to speak again but she was interrupted by a slightly cold voice.

"I believe that the whole point of this agreement was compromise and listening, Hokage. My members are not chess pieces for you to move around as you please. You will not demand of them like you do your own, you will consult them and me because we are not a part of your village. I am the Leader of this organization, and if I find that you are keeping important decisions from me, the Akatsuki will find their own way to get through this war. And, another thing we should cover, Lady Hokage," Pein said, pausing.

"Despite your past relationships with Sakura, she is not one of yours any longer, and she is free to do as she chooses," Pein finished, and my eyes snapped towards him in slight.

Both Pein and Tsunade turned towards us, awaiting our responses to the, now, mission offer. Itachi, Zetsu, and I all nodded. I was determined to do this, to prove my worth nor only to myself, but the ever so doubtful Konohagakure nin. I would show them just how strong I had gotten, and I wouldn't let this mission fail.

"Wait, you can't send Sakura!" Naruto said loudly, his face coated with worry as his posture expressed defiance and a few others of my past looked like they agreed with his protest.

My eyes turned as cold as ice, and I looked at him with my face stony. He froze, seeing the utter hatred and disbelief on my face. He backed away, but I didn't turn away from him. My chest gave a heavy heave, my anger overwhelming me. After everything, practically knocking him out in a fight, after yelling my heart out at him, he still didn't get it. It was just stuck in his head that I was weak, like a nail drove into a wall all the way to the head. He just couldn't pull the nail out, no matter what.

"Like I said, boy," Pein said coldly, his ringed eyes staring straight into Naruto's, "Sakura is not one of your ninja any longer. Yes, you are on the same side and allied, but she is an Akatsuki through choice. She is strong, despite what any of you Konoha nin may have convinced yourself. She chose, so she goes."

I would show them, and I was determined to come out of this war alive. I was determined to not only come out alive, but keep those I cared for safe. But, I couldn't help but have a stray thought.

In the heat of battle, would I be able to force myself to protect the Konoha nin if it was needed, even if my heart was still bleeding from the wounds they had created?

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**Piper: Tsunade and Naruto got told!**

**Please review!**


	26. Start

**Piper: Sorry, a bit late.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 26 - Start

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"For the last time Naruto, I said no!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her palms onto the top of her desk.

Naruto did the same, and the desk almost snapped under the power of the two strong ninja. "You have to send us! If not all of us then one of us, Grandma! We have to make sure she stays safe!"

Tsunade shook her head at Team Seven, and turned away from them. She walked towards the window, the light shades of pink and orange reflecting in her eyes. She didn't understand what it would take to get it through their heads that Sakura no longer needed, or wanted, their protection. Sakura had never wanted their protection. She, like any other ninja, had only wanted the safety of knowing that if she were in a tight spot her team would be there for her. All they did in her childhood was steal any chances she had at growing, and then left her alone.

"Lady Hokage," Kakashi began, "You have to understand, all we want is-"

"Have you ever thought about anything other than what _you_ want?" Tsunade almost whispered, and the room grew silent. "Did you ever really think about how Sakura felt about any of this? You can't blame her fully for wanting to be with the Akatsuki. She did betray us by joining the enemy, but look at it from her point of view. The Akatsuki treat her as an equal, someone who can keep up with their pace and they respect her. Sakura is strong, and the Akatsuki recognize it just as she recognizes their strength."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Akatsuki, but the young Uchiha stayed silent.

Naruto, however, didn't even seem to know the true definition of quiet. "We know that Sakura's strong, Grandma!" He said in an obvious tone, almost seeming to wonder how Tsunade thought any different.

"You certainly don't show it," Tsunade stated, looking at them from over her shoulder.

Naruto blinked. "What are you talking about, Grandma?"

Tsuande shook her head, and waved a hand at them. "Leave my office, the choice is final. None of you are to accompany Sakura on this mission. You would only find some way to strain our relationship with the Akatsuki even more, and upset Sakura further. If you want to be part of her life again, then start working more on your apologies then suffocating her with your protection."

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**Sakura Haruno**

I shuffled my feet nervously, looking around me carefully. Itachi and Zetsu stood next to me, both seeming in their own little world. Itachi was staring ahead of him, his arms crossed over his chest. Zetsu was arguing with himself quietly, so quiet that I couldn't pick up a single piece of what he was saying in the least. I was, however, was nervous. We were going to meet the three Konoha nin that would be accompanying us on this mission to find information on Orochimaru.

"Calm down," Itachi said suddenly.

I looked at him, seeing his eyes trained on my anxious figure.

"You will be fine," He stated, looking back ahead of him.

"I just hope it's not them," I said quietly.

He seemed to nod in understanding.

The sound of foot steps caused all to pause and look down the path. I blinked slightly at who I saw heading our way, and felt my heart clench slightly.

"Hello, Neji, Tenten, Lee," I greeted softly once they were near enough.

Tenten and Lee offered me a smile each, while Neji nodded his greeting. They were not as friendly towards my team mates, and seemed to be avoiding their greetings towards them. Neji was the only one who had a pride large enough to look Itachi Uchiha in the eye, and for a moment the two seemed to access each other. The air was tense for a few moments, so thick that it was practically hard to breath. Both grew uninterested in the contest, and they both looked away.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, before I looked at the three. They were dressed for travel, and they each had rucksacks on their backs. I smiled mentally, happy that Tsunade had chose Team Gai, sans their group leader. I had always loved being around Team Gai when my own team had left me behind. The teamwork they had was beautiful, and they never minded including me in their training. They, along with many, had made me feel not so alone, but even that wasn't enough to dispel the void my heart had become. Their friendship was great to me, but had I still felt like I had to prove myself to my team. I was more close with Team Eight and Team Gai then I had been with Team Ten. My past with Ino had prevented me from getting to close to them, feeling as though I would be crossing lines by becoming friends with my ex-friend's team.

"You three are coming with us?" I asked, receiving nods in return.

I nodded to myself, feeling relieved that Team Seven would not be here to cover me in their shielding.

"We should begin our travels, before nightfall," Neji said suddenly, and began to walk towards the gates.

Itachi seemed to narrow his eyes at the Hyuuga male, but but moved once Tenten, Lee, and I began to follow. At the entrance we dawned our Akatsuki cloaks, Team Gai watching us a bit wearily. Lee's lips were twitching slightly, telling me that there was a resistance. He hadn't spoken once since we had met up, and I knew that he probably felt just as the others did, like I was unapproachable now that I wore white trimmed, red clouds on my cloak. I didn't know if I was, or not.

We began to travel towards Sound Country. Occasionally Zetsu would excuse himself to scout ahead. The first time that Team Gai saw him sink into the ground, they seemed a bit disturbed. It seemed to dawn on them that the Akatsuki truly did have many odd but extremely useful and powerful assets. It also seemed to dawn on them that had they been going to war with the Akatsuki instead of Sound, Konoha would have been most oblivious to what the Akatsuki would do.

The awkward silence was eating away at me, and I found myself wishing that someone would speak. It was dark now, but we had all agreed to travel until the next night. That had been the only real talking, aside from Zetsu's conversations with himself. That seemed to unsettle Team Gai further, and they hardly even talked amongst themselves.

Finally, I couldn't take it. Zetsu had been about to sink in the the ground to scout around, when I touched his arm.

"Can I go with you this time?" I asked quietly, "All the silence is driving me insane."

I looked at Itachi, silently asking if he would be fine being alone with them for a few minutes. He nodded at me, and I looked towards Zetsu. The multi-persona man nodded, and wrapped his arms around me carefully. Lee gave a yelp when he saw me sink along with plant man, into the tree we had been standing on. The last thing I saw were his eyes, concerned and curious at the same time.

Zetsu and I appeared in many different places very fast. I knew that we were very far away from the group. There was no need to scout close, because Neji's byakugan took care of that very well. Scouting with Zetsu made everything dizzy, because all he would do is poke his head out of the surface we appeared one, checked around with both his vision and chakra, before quickly disappearing from the spot and appearing in a different place.

By the time we appeared back at the group, I was dizzy, but I preferred it over the awkward vortex that had seemed to consume us all.

We we're into our second day of travel with no sleep at all, when Tenten began to run next to me.

"Hey," she greeted, making me look at her shock.

"Hello," I replied, trying to hide the surprise that threatened to show its self.

She offered me a small smile. "How have you been?"

I looked away. "I-uh, stressed. Yeah, that's the word..."

Tenten laughed, but it seemed a bit strained. "I can understand why. Look, I'm not going to pretend nothing had happened, but I'm not going to skirt around you like you were never my friend."

My heart felt lighter, and not long after Tenten started talking to me Lee jumped into the conversation eagerly. I tried to pool Zetsu and Itachi into the conversation, but Itachi wasn't a talkative person in the least and Zetsu was to busy arguing with himself about something. I could tell that something had irritated the multi-persona man, for he didn't talk to himself that much normally. He talked to himself quiet a lot, too, but he seemed to be having a very deep conversation this time around.

"I'm very happy to have you back around, my youthful Sakura blossom!" Lee shouted happily, seeming much more in his nature since he got to use his vocals.

The chattered helped the day go along faster, and before I knew it night had fallen once again and we had set up camp. I was tired from the non-stop running, but it was easy to deal with. I cut down a smaller tree for a simple stack of fire wood, and Itachi lit the fire. Zetsu had went off in search of food for us to cook so that we wouldn't have to waste any we brought along with us. Team Gai worked on putting up three two-man tents. One for Tenten and I, one for Lee and Neji, and the last for Itachi and Zetsu.

Zetsu came back with a sharpened stick with four large fish stabbed straight through the middle. I took it from him, and began to clean his catch. The the middle of cutting through the fish, I heard felt someone sit next to me. I glanced at them, and was surprised to see Neji sitting their. He was staring straight at the fire, the orange flames glowing against his pale eyes.

"Lee is right," He said after a moment of me silently cleaning our dinner, "It is good to have you back."

I looked at him, my eyes shocked. I blinked once, before smiling at him. He smirked at the fire, before getting up to wonder around our campsite.

Once the fish was cleaned I cooked the meat over the fire and everyone settled down around the fire. None stuck around for campfire fun, seeming uncomfortable with each other. Itachi claimed first watch, and Neji applied for second watch. Lee jumped in for first before I could even open my mouth, and the night watch was set. Tenten and I retreated to our tents, and went to sleep.

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We traveled for about four days until we reached Sound territory. It was then we began to search for any kind of base we could find. We avoided the main, larger villager like the plague. We also knew that it was possible for Orochimaru to have bases inside fire country, and were prepared to turn back around when we stumbled upon one of the bases.

The entrance was part of a large mountain, which looked like if one pebble fell loose the whole thing would come down. The entrance was a larger boulder, but we knew that it had to be an entrance. The whole thing seemed to reek of chakra and traps. Neji and Itachi stepped forward to try and decipher the entrance. For about an hour the two pooled into their chakra to try and dispel the jutsu placed onto it.

Finally, I had gotten impatient.

"Guys," I said loudly.

The two looked at me, their faces looking slightly irritated.

I motioned for them to move away from the entrance. They stared for a moment, before they began to back up. I ushered the whole group another twenty feet back before I faced the boulder. I pulled my mother's gloves out from inside my cloak and fit them onto my hands. I flexed my fingers and popped my knuckles before I charged forward. I threw my fist against the boulder, and felt the chakra inside of it holding up resistance. For a moment, I thought that every bone in my hand would break at the impact, but the boulder broken first.

The chakra inside of it released in a large cloud, dispersing as the mighty rock crumbled to rubble and dust. The mountain seemed to shift as a few rocks began to fall from the impact, but luckily the whole thing stayed stable enough.

I looked into the entrance, seeing nothing but darkness.

Tenten pulled out two torches from a scroll, and handed one to me.

"It would be best if we split up," She said, going to Neji and Lee's sides.

I nodded, "Alright. If any one finds trouble then flare out your chakra."

Everyone agreed to the terms, and we headed into the darkness. Like we suspected, it wasn't long until we found a fork in our paths. Itachi, Zetsu, and I picked left while Team Gai went right. Soon enough the rocks turned into damp halls, and we searched each room we passed. Most seemed like storage closets and sleeping quarters for different members of Orochimaru's warriors. It wasn't hard to figure that the base did once belong to Orochimaru, because occasionally a little snake would slither across our path. Each one we saw we killed, knowing very well that Orochimaru might've been able to see us through their eyes.

"We aren't finding much of anything," I whispered to Itachi, who nodded, his sharingan eyes alert.

I seemed to have spoken to soon, because as soon as I did Zetsu pushed open the door to a large room. One wall was turned into a shelf, full of books, while the other side seemed to be made of steel containers. Tables were spread out around, and scattered papers were all over the place. There were two refrigerators along the side of one free wall.

"Spread out," Itachi said, and moved into the room. He walked towards the bookshelves and instantly began to pull out books of different sizes and colors.

Zetsu began to pick up the papers from the ground, his two voices reading quietly to themselves.

Curious, I began to move towards the steel containers along the side wall. There were slide windows on each one. I wrapped my hand around the handle of the first and tried to open it, but pursed my lips when I found it jammed. I tried to pulled it open, but it groaned under the pressure. I stopped then, not wanting to snap the handle off and make it completely impossible. I moved on to the next container and tried the handle. It slid open easily, and I got on my tip-toes to peer inside.

It was dark inside, and for a moment I believed it was completely empty. Then, the shadows inside moved.

A gasp left my lips, and I almost stumbled. A deep, gurgling and grating growl came from within the container, making my eyes widen. There were a couple more gurgles, along with the sound of shifting coming from the inside of the cage. I looking around me, seeing Zetsu and Itachi completely oblivious to my encounter. I licked my lips nervously, before I moved towards the window once more. I peered inside carefully, before a shriek left my lips.

A hand, gruesomely dirty and blood, shot out of the small hole. It was disfigured and missing a middle finger, but that didn't hinder its free fingers from grabbing at my hair.

My chakra flared out dangerously as I scared shriek left me. I pulled a kunai knife from within my cloak and stabbed the wrist attached to the hand. A loud, furious cry came from within an the hand retreated fast. I stumbled back, into Itachi and Zetsu, who were at my side the instant my cry had left my mouth.

I looked at the kunai in my hand, and saw something that made my blood churn.

The blood upon my kunai was not a bright crimson, but a deep, mysterious purple.

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**Piper: Here you go!**

**Please Review!**


	27. Science

**Piper: Sorry guys, things have been a bit hectic with school work. Please be patient with me! Also, I had really bad writers block with this story, but once I got writing it got easier.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**WARNINGS: Gruesome. If you have a fairly weak stomach, so weak that you might throw up just from reading something disgusting, you have been warned.**

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Chapter 27 - Science

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**Sakura Haruno**

A sudden series of bangs came from within the container, causing both Itachi, Zetsu, and I to back up. It wasn't long before I felt the chakra of Team Gai enter my range, and I realized that they were reacting to my previous chakra flare. I sighed with relief, knowing that Orochimaru's experiments were nothing to trifle with.

Team Gai entered just as a loud, metallic screeching came from the cage. They took stances along side of us, and for a moment I admired the picture of Konoha nin and Akatsuki fighting along side each other. Hopefully, things would be able to stay this way. Hopefully, Konoha and Akatsuki could stay allies longer than this war, if we all made it out that was.

My eyes widened when a metal claw suddenly slipped through the edge of the door, slicing right through the metal as though it were a piece of bread. I watched as the claw struggled to cut upwards, trying to make a door for it and whatever else was in there so that they could get our and cause chaos and havoc.

A hand, just as dirty and grimy as the one that had grabbed my hair, reached out of the cut metal. It's finger curled around the edge of the cut slab, before pulling. The metal gave a sharp screech as it was suddenly peeled open, as easily as peeling the plastic off the back of a sticker. There was a small moment where everything went quiet, and we couldn't hear anything else coming from the now wide open container. Then, suddenly, a being began to crawl its way out of the shadows of its broken confinement.

It was quite the gruesome site, and the first thought that ran through my mind upon seeing it was: Failed. This wasn't one of Orochimaru's creations that he prided and cared for as though it were a new pet kitten. This was a manic, scatter minded failed, experiments that no longer knew its purpose in life. It's skin was unclean and discolored from dirt and grime, and was cover by thin scraps of clothing. It would've looked like a normal human being, except that it had no face. A smooth layer of skin covered the front of its face, except for two slits which I guessed were the eyes. Its joints seemed almost invincible, because they seemed to be able to snap in any direction. It was so skinny, so thin, that it was practically bones with a thin sheets of skin wrapped tightly around it.

The thing let out a muffled screech, and for a moment I pounded how it could even make a sound. Then, I saw that part of the skin on its face was like a bubble, covering it's mouth. Each sound that came from its mouth caused the bubble to expand like a balloon, and it even looked suffocating to me.

It's arm snapped almost completely backwards, but it continued to crawl like the appendage didn't even matter. I pulled out my sword in a swift motion, my eyes trained on the monstrous being.

Slowly, it began to stand. It's bone made disgusting clicks and pops as it stood in the most unnatural way possible. Once it stood, it was almost in a inhuman relaxed position. It's knees were pent, and its arms were dangling limply. Its fingers were all crooked and curled in unnatural places. It's back was leaned back, but it's shoulders were high as though it were stuck in the middle of a shrug.

It let out a long, drawn out gurgle. I could see small popping bubbles beyond the thin film of skin covering its mouth, and I felt my stomach give a heave. The monster's head snapped to the side. It would've been one of those adorable moments of showing curiosity, had it no been so quick and caused such a sound, and coming from such a figure. Suddenly, a metal claw cut out of the figure's knuckle. Literally cut through from the inside. The figure whined slightly in pain, and I saw purple blood leaking from the bottom of the blade. It trickled down the blade and dripped onto the floor slowly.

The claw was it's weapon, but to use it the figure had to inflict a terrible pain upon its self.

And, the only thing running through my mind was: This used to be a human being. Now, it no longer had that chance to be one.

The figure let out a terrifying screech, which expanded the bubble around its mouth, and was mimicked by several other cries inside the cage.

It jerkily surged forward, it's joints clicking and popping.

I slashed forward, almost exacting an easily kill. But, my sword was countered by the monster's single, blood stained blade in a sudden click of its arms. My eyes narrowed, and I moved my sword back before whipping my leg towards its feet. It was caught off guard, and just as it hit the ground more monsters began to poor out of the large cage.

They all had a similar likeness, but different qualities. Almost each one was distinguished from the other, because some actually had some human similarities to their face. Some had one full eyes, some had un-bubbled mouths, some had noses, some had ears, and some actually had their full face even though it was twisted around horrifically.

I cut through out first enemy as quickly as I could, and we all moved into battle. Purple blood was spraying around me, and I fought off the reflex to throw up. Something made the blood seem much more disgusting, and each time I felt a fleck touch my bare skin I quickly rubbed it off the best I could.

Finally, it came down to one left. It was more bulbous then the others, and it's thick flesh made odd, disgusting noises when its joints would click. I swallowed my disgusting, and prepared my sword. I reached forward and stabbed it the gut, causing it to let out a large wail. It didn't move, however. I watched, confused, before my eyes widened.

It was inflating.

I yanked my sword from its belly, causing a river of plum colored liquid began to roll down its protruding stomach.

"Take cover," Tenten yelled, backing away quickly.

Neji, Lee, and I had tucked ourselves tightly into one of the corner, shielded by one of the large, steel cages, and I spotted the others tucked behind the book shelves on the other side of the room. There was a small waiting period, before there was a sickening, sloshy _'pop'_. A wave of amethyst burst around us, covering everything in sticky blood. Luckily, we were all shielded from the disgusting burst of what used to be a human being.

We all slowly moved from out hiding spot, and I tried to step around the large puddles of blood on the floor. It was everywhere. The floor, the walls, and on just about everything that hadn't been shielded by something else. I watched as purple blood oozed down the walls, and fought to hold my stomach down. There was a disgusting smell in the air. Not coppery like blood, but almost like a fowl lower body movement, which didn't help the cause of trying to keep my stomach from heaving up any food and acids it carried.

"Disgusting," Tenten said, her nose scrunched up.

"Let's get out of here. Anything that might've helped us is damaged beyond compare now," I commented, moving towards the door in a quick escape.

The others were on my heels as we ran out of the base. Team Gai said that they found nothing of use, and there was no reason to further search the base. It seemed that we were all trying to run away from the gruesome sights inside, but I knew that all of us would be haunted by sick figures and purple would no longer be a happy color for a long time.

Once we stepped outside, into the fresh air, I inhaled deeply. I closed my eyes and rubbed my knuckles to my temples, trying to clear my sickened, tainted thoughts. There was a sudden loud noise from above, causing us all to look up at the sky. I recognized Deidara's clay bird, and I waited patiently for him to land and explain his appearances.

The bird landed, giving the ground a small shake. It tucked its clay wings, and stared blankly ahead. Deidara stood up near the head, and shouted, "We got a problem, yeah!"

"What is it?" I questioned, feeling slight worry build up inside of me.

"Orochimaru's attacked Konoha," Deidara said quickly, and motioned me towards the bird, "Leader told me to take you and Itachi back on the bird. Zetsu is to take the three Konoha nin with him."

Everyone quickly burst into action. Itachi and I jumped onto the bird, and Team Gai reluctantly let Zetsu wrap his arms around them. Just as they began to sink into the ground, we took off in a burst of air. I had never known that Deidara's clay birds could go so fast, and I found my self digging my fingers into the clay birds back. I laced chakra into my hands and feet, keeping my balance carefully.

I began to feel sick once more as I thought about Konohagakure. The thought of it destroyed, in flames, or in ruins constricted my heart. My past with Konoha was now rocky, but a piece of my heart would always care for the village that helped raise me, even though they lied and didn't do to much of a job. I couldn't not care about them.

And my worst fear was not only seeing Konoha in ruins, but finding my loved ones, Konoha nin and Akatsuki alike, dead.

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**Piper: Sorry, it is a bit short but the next chapter should be longer.**

**Please review!**


	28. Heat

**Piper: Chapter 28, wow! Almost to 30. I honestly didn't expect this story to be this long. But, it will be coming to an end soon.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 28 - Heat

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**Sakura Haruno**

For a few moments, we were soaring. The feeling of flying could over come any fear that rose in me, but only when I closed my eyes and pretended that nothing was going on in the world. I could feel Itachi and Deidara standing next to me, ready to fight the mutual enemy we shared with Konoha. The fear aching inside of me kept me worried, and even when I tried to focus on the feeling of air brushing against my flushed face, it wouldn't be swayed away. I was too worried about finding my home in ruins.

I mentally prepped myself for the fight that was to come, and once the village was on the horizon I was ready. My eyes scanned the surface of the city, spotting a few spiraling pillars of smoke rising from within the walls. The gates of village were blown off, and I could see ninja filing in and out. My lips pursed with worry, but knew it could be much worse. These were signs of battle, but not annihilation. Who was winning, I didn't know, but I was going to pummel every ninja wearing a sound head band into the dirt.

Deidara controlled the flight path of the bird to soar over the village, and I looked down below. A full out battle was going on below, and the air was thick with chakra. I could faintly see jutsu and weaponry thrown around in the streets, and felt my self tense.

"I'm going down," I told them quickly, before diving off the edge of the bird.

Gravity took hold of my body, and I plummeted towards the ground. I flipped once, so that the bottoms of my feet were facing the ground. I pushed my chakra into my feet, and a the earth shook violently when my feet hit the ground. I lessened the blow to my body by landing in a crouch, feeling my bones shake at the impact. I flexed out my chakra, and looked up to face the battle going around me.

A few sound ninja were ahead of me, and I looked up just in time to watch them slaughter an innocent civilian woman. Anger built in me, I pushed myself from my crouch. I pulsed chakra into my feet and ran at them. The ninja turned at the last second, only the feel the impact of my chakra laced foot connect with his skull. I felt the sickening crack at the impact of my boot, and knew that splinters of his skulls had most likely pierced his brain.

I felt another ninja come at me from behind, I spun my self around. I caught his flying fist in my palm, and threw him as hard as I could. I didn't bother to see where he landed as I fought my way through the crowds, occasionally seeing ninja I recognized. The war crashing around me was great and mighty, and I found myself dodging and attacking every second through it.

A presence rose up behind me, and I spun around with a kick. The person dodged fluidly, and I glanced at their face. It was just a sound ninja, a ninja with no face. Not literally, of course, but in my eyes he was no human being. He had no face that I would remember, and I watched him fall, face down, in a puddle of his own blood as I cut through him with my father's dual-bladed katana.

Suddenly, something came at me from behind. I turned to late, and waited for the impact. There was a gurgle, and a thud. I turned, and watched as Sasuke wiped his blade clean on the dead man's shirt. His dark eyes glanced into mine, and I pursed my lips at him slightly, before nodding my head in thanks. He returned the nod, and we went our separate ways into the heat of the battle.

I sheathed my sword as I ran through the middle of the war, swinging my fists to pummel each enemy in my path. I looked to my left, and saw a flash of blonde hair punch down an enemy on my left. Ino looked at me, drawing her fists back. Suddenly, I found myself back-to-back with Ino Yamanaka, our fists bared to a circle of enemies.

"Sakura," Ino said slowly, moving into a crouch.

"Hm?" I asked lightly, running my green eyes over our enemies.

"I'm sorry," She said, and I needed no explanation.

"Me, too," I told her, and we sprung.

I threw my knuckles into the ninja's jaw, feeling the bones snap and crack underneath my fists. I swung my leg into his gut, forcing the air from his lungs. I reached behind me, grabbing the ninja coming in from behind, and tossed him into his injured teammate. They hit the ground with a large crack, denting the ground upon impact. I ducked, dodging a kick from behind, and swiftly moved my leg in a full circle, knocking the ninja off of his feet. Ino came from behind, her fist knocking leaving a crater in his skull.

Looking around, I tried to catch my breath. Konoha ninja were standing around, looking for more enemies to fight. It seemed that any enemy ninja left had retreated, and people rose into a cheer. I smiled as I saw Hidan and Kisame roaring along with the crowd, and the other Akatsuki still alive and breathing, but looking a bit beaten.

But, my smile fell.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked, a breathless smile of triumph on her face, "We won!"

I shook my head, causing my hair to fall in my face. "No, that was only the first wave. I know well enough that that was in no way our war. The enemies were weaker, and I know from experience that Sound ninja are much stronger then that. They're sending their weakest in first to make us feel like we have the upper hand, and that is when they'll bring in the big fighters."

"We must prepare." Pein's voice came from behind, and I turned to face him.

His eyes caught mine, and he spoke smoothly, "They will not give us much time to recuperate before they send in another wave. I want you to go around and heal any injured that you can find."

I nodded, "Alright!"

I began to make my way through the crowds, running my eyes over any that seemed to have intense injuries. I heard soft crying, and I turned my eyes towards the noise. A small boy was bent over the fallen figure of the civilian woman I had saw cut down at the beginning of my battle, and tears were pouring down his slightly chubby face. He was covered in her blood as he tried to shake her awake, and there were many cuts littering his arms and legs.

Moving towards the boy, I made sure to make loud steps so that I wouldn't startle him. When he heard me, he turned his glossy blue eyes on to me, his lower lips trembling as his eyes and nose leaked. He opened his mouth, and stuttered out, "Why won't mommy wake up, M-Miss?"

I felt tears come to my eyes, and my heart ached for the boy. I knelt down next to him, and placed my hand on his head. He looked right into my eyes, the innocents held in them crashing down with the pain and fear he was feeling.

"Your mother is going to a better place now," I whispered softly, "What is your name?"

"H-Hikaru," He sniffled, before letting out a small sob, "I want mommy to wake up!"

I pulled him into my arms, and he clutched onto me. He sobbed into my cloak, and I stood with him in my arms. He cried about how he had alot of scratches, and how his mother had always taken care of the wounds for him. I set him down on in my lap, using a bit of strength to pull my cloak from his fingers. He watched, eyes widening slightly, as my hands began to glow. I hovered them over his injuries, and he slowly began to stop crying as the pain began to fade.

"Hikaru!" A man's voice shouted, and I looked up as a ninja adorned with a Konoha head band quickly approached.

He pulled his son from my lap, and the boy instantly started his tears over again.

I stood, placing my hand on the ninja's shoulder. He looked at me, and I said softly, "I'm sorry, but, your wife..."

He seemed to understand, and nodded. He buried his face into his son's hair, holding the boy comfortingly. I smiled sadly at that, feeling a few more pangs in my heart. It reminded me of the few memories I had of my own father.

"You Akatsuki aren't that bad," The ninja said slowly, his eyes connecting with mine, "Thank you for helping my son."

I nodded to him, before turning to leave. I wandered around in a slight daze, glad that there wasn't to much death, yet. So far I so no bodies of anyone I knew, and for that I was thankful. As I passed an alley way, I felt a hand wrap around my arm and pull me in. I quickly pulled a kunai out with my free hand, pressing it against my attackers throat.

"Don't be so hasty, Blossom," A familiar voice whispered in my ear.

"Madara," I identified, lowering my weapon from his neck.

He hummed in confirmation, and I felt his had ghost along my cheek. "I'm glad to see that you're still alive, Blossom."

"I didn't plan on dying," I replied dryly, feeling slight offended that he even had the slightest inkling that I might die during the first wave.

Madara chuckled, and said, "Now, now, don't get angry. I was merely expressing my relief. I know how strong you are."

I felt his breath hit my face, the darkness of the alleyway covering him from view. I pulled away slightly, and stared up at where I believed his eyes to be.

"What's wrong, Blossom?" He prodded, his dark voice vibrating through the alleyway.

"What is this?" I asked, "Why do you... kiss me? I don't understand."

He chuckled once more, and I felt him get closer. He pressed my back against the wall of the alley. I felt his nose touch my collar bone, and I tensed slightly, my lungs tightening and constricting me from air.

"This is why," He chuckled, his breath fanning my neck, "You're reactions, your personality. You are very different from any others I've been with before. One of a kind."

I felt a slight sting of jealousy at his mention of others, but I covered it up with a small sigh.

"You feel for me," He stated, "Just as I feel for you."

"I hardly even know you," I interrupted, "Our relationship, or lack of, was built on a mystery because I didn't even know what you looked like in the beginning. There is no foundation here, no reason for us to be here, like this. Especially not in the middle of a war, the most difficult time to really show love or expressions when you're to busy killing and filled with hatred.

"Then we will make a foundation," Madara growled, and pulled me into his arms.

I felt safe in his arms, with my head tucked underneath his chin.

There was a faint call of my name, and Madara pulled away. He smoothed down my hair, and pressed his lips to my forehead. Their warmth spread through me, and suddenly he was gone. I shook my mind clear, and sighed. This was to much to go through while trying to focus on a war. Past friends, new friends, and a new relationship that was practically built out of nothing.

Once I exited the alleyway, I met up by a frantic Ino.

"What?" I questioned loudly, trying to slow down her speech so that I could understand.

"The second wave is coming, scouts ahead have spotted them coming," She said, and I followed her to the entrance of the village. A large crowd of ninja were waiting, standing like a protective wall of bodies. I moved through the crowd until I stood at the front, Itachi on my right side and an unknown ninja on my left.

"The scout says that the Sound are carting large containers with them," Itachi said lowly, and my eyes widened.

I looked at him slowly, and said softly, "Do you think it will be the same mutants that we fought back at Orochimaru's base?"

He shook his head. "They left those behind for a reason. They must have been failed because they weren't as strong as the others, so they were left behind. These will be stronger."

Biting my lip softly, I stared ahead of me. I could see the faint outlines of the second wave approaching, and pulled my glove away from my hand. I pinched the material of my arm sleeve, and pulled it off. I readied my self, preparing to initiate the first move. They got closer and closer, and I slowly tensed my legs. I pushed chakra into them, and once they were close enough I sprinted towards them. I heard the steps of other ninjas following mine, and I pushed myself fast so that they wouldn't get caught in my attack.

I went into hand signs, before letting out a shout, "Elemental fist: Lightning!"

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**Piper: Second part of the battle next chapter!**

**Please Review!**


	29. Combat

**Piper: I bet you thought I completely forgot about this story? Naw. It's time it got finished, I'm tired to being lazy with it.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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Chapter 29 - Combat

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**Sakura Haruno**

Searing hot lightning the color of the ocean cut through multiple layers of flesh, and I could feel each hit as though my arm was a hot knife cutting through butter. All I could see was jagged blue and slick crimson, and all I could hear was the crackling of lightning, the rip of flesh, and the splatter of warm blood. I could feel the blood all around me, and I could feel bones snap beneath me as I surged further into the wave of human bodies.

None managed a hit on me, not with my lightning arm. It was blue hot, and I struggled to keep holding it as long as I good. The more I took down, the less casualties on my side. Even though we weren't truly together again, I could not bare it to watch Konoha fall. It took a lot to realize that. No matter how much I tried to deny it, I could feel my ties to Konoha and I knew that they would never die no matter how much I favored the Akatsuki.

Finally, the lightning died, and I went into action. I wielded my fists and I beat down anything that looked remotely hostile. I could feel Konoha ninja and Akatsuki alike fighting along side of me. My Akatsuki whipped around as I furiously took down opponent after opponent. The spiritual heat of chakra was all around me, and I could feel them all grinding against my own furiously. They clashed and fought, like trying to put two magnets directly together.

I put my hands together and began to sign, channeling my chakra. I summoned ten shadow clones, and I cast them around to help those slacking. I felt a kunai fly towards me, and I snapped my head to the side. I could see it fly by in the my side vision, and I could feel another approaching. I reached for my kunai pouch, ready to block it, but another being covered for me. I looked up, and saw Naruto, a kunai in his hand. He looked at me from over his shoulder, his blue eyes striking my soul.

"Naruto," I breathed slightly, catching my breath from all of the excitement.

"Sakura," He returned sadly, before we both dodged the spray of a water jutsu.

A huge whip of water came at us, and I heard Naruto call my name loudly before we were both slammed in the chests. We flew through the air at top speed, crashing through trees. I hit the ground and rolled, the whole world spinning around me like a tornado. I quickly hopped to my feet, and saw Naruto doing the same. I could feel a familiar chakra surrounding us, pulsing with pure evil. Naruto and I both looked around quickly, trying to find the chakra.

Something suddenly shot around in the grass next to me, slithering like a snake. I grunted as it hit me, and I flipped away from it quickly. I snapped my head to look at it, and I saw myself staring into the eyes of a snake.

"Orochimaru," I whispered.

He licked his lips, and my spine jolted in digust at the length of it. For a moment, I felt like a small mouse underneath his gaze. A nice, juicy mouse to be prayed upon by a coiling snake. But, then I felt Naruto take position at my side. Glancing at him, I felt my stomach blossom with warmth. My ex-team mate, who I had been so angry with, still wanted to stand at my side despite our falling out. He wanted to fight by me just as much as I wanted to fight by him.

I felt that a piece of us was missing, however.

"Hmm," Orochimaru purred, "I wasn't exactly expecting to fight you two, but you'll have to do."

"Forgetting someone, Orochimaru?" A dark voice said from behind.

We turned, and I watched as Sasuke walked onto the field. His hand was lazily resting on his katana hilt, similar to how mine was at the moment. The Uchiha caught my eyes, and for a moment, I thought that he smiled. Sasuke joined my other side, and the incomplete feeling slowly dwindled away. We were the original three academy students of Team Seven, and we were going to fight on the same side once more. We were fighting for not only our home, but our whole world.

"Ahh, Sasuke," Orochimaru hissed, inclining his head forward at his old apprentice, "I was wondering if I would be able to see you again. You do have a choice, you know. I will completely forgive your attempt to kill me if you just cross over now."

My spine shivered. The way this man spoke could sending waves of fear rolling through you. He literally was a snake. He spoke with a voice of disgusting charm, with venom laced in every word. His eyes were that of a predator, one that strike at any unpredictable moment. But, with my old Team at my side I found that it was impossible for me to feel like a mouse any more. I felt like a tiger, a large beast prepared to claw the snake in half before it could sink its teeth in.

My eyes flickered to the Uchiha, just in time to see him scoff. He slid his katana from its sheath, and I found myself copying his movement with a smile on my face.

Orochimaru scowled, and his oddly angled face darkened. He licked his lips once more, before he whispered, "Pitty."

The snake sprung, and we moved into action. He dove for me, his arms at his sides as he quite literally moved like a snake. His body moved and slithered, and his jaw almost seemed to unhinge as he went into deep laughter. I cut out with my katana, but he swiftly dodged backwards. I bit my lip, and watched as several Naruto clones sprung forward. I bored my teeth when I saw the real Naruto get swatted away like some kind of pest, and I charged forward.

I could feel Sasuke running along side me, and we began to move in synchronization. It felt almost natural to fight at their sides, even though my heart was still pained with the ache of betrayal.

My sword missed its mark, but Sasuke's caught the tip of the snakes shoulders. He laughed at the mark, before he shot forward. He slithered right underneath Sasuke and came for me. I gasped, but tensed in preparation.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled, and I could feel him trying to get closer.

I snapped out my foot as the snake came closer, and he twisted unnaturally. His hand caught my heel, and I twisted in his grasp. I threw my fist to his stomach, and was satisfied to hear multiple ribs crack underneath my knuckles. His breath was knocked out of him, and it coiled around my face. His breath was icy and smelled of death, making me recoil my head as I realized that he had breathed out some kind of poison.

My hand covered my mouth as I began to cough, watching as several Naruto clones began to corral the snake man away from me. A hand touched my shoulder, and I could feel Sasuke's dark eyes bore into mine. I placed a hand over where my lungs were located and to began to pulse my chakra. I could feel the poison began to fight against my medical jutsu, but soon it was evacuated up my throat. It tickled badly, and I threw up once.

When I found that all of it was gone, I nodded once to the Uchiha and we sprung back into the fight. We got close enough to see Orochimaru finish the last of a series of hand signs. The ground began to rumble dangerously. I felt something slither around my legs, and I looked down to find snakes spewing up from cracks in the ground. The snakes continued to pool out, and I struggled to released their strong grip around my legs.

I finally got the snakes off, when I felt Orochimaru coming for me. I looked, and saw through horrified eyes as his neck began to extend. It coiled forward, his teeth bared. I snapped my foot up, trying to kick the snake man's head away, but he dodge my foot and went for my neck. For a moment, I thought that he had marked me, but realized instead that he was trying to bite my jugular.

"Sakura!" Naruto screamed, currently struggling to fight Orochimaru's body, which seemed to have no problem fighting whislt his neck was extended.

His teeth tore through my neck, and wrapped my hands around his throat. I squeezed, digging my finger nails into his soft flesh. I pulled him from my neck, feel blood begin to roll down my neck. I stared right into his eyes, which were wild and lit with the pleasure of the fight. Blood from my neck rolled down his chin, and he tauntingly licked it away before my eyes.

Disgust rolled through me, and I pulled his neck, before throwing his head away as hard as I could. It whipped back, towards a concerned Naruto. I focused on healing my neck, and I saw two Naruto clones kick the head between them before his neck began to shrink back, placing his head back onto his shoulders.

"You three are strong," The snake man chuckled, and I could see some of my blood lingering on his teeth.

I pulled my hands away from my healed wound, breathing heavily.

"But not strong enough!" He snapped, his eyes slitting. His hand clapped together and he began to preform hand signs.

There was a loud explosion, and I shielded my eyes away as dirt and rubble was flung into the air. I heard the shift of scaled skin, and quickly removed my arm. A giant snake towered over me, and I felt my breath get blown away at its size. I flipped away as it swept its tail around, almost hitting me. Naruto and Sasuke appeared at my sides, and I tried to catch my breath.

"That snake," I whispered, "It's Orochimaru."

It was true, this snake was no summon. I could see its resemblance to the snake man in every way. Its scales were the shimmering colors of white and purple, with black designs atop of its large head. Its eyes were the same gold as Orochimaru's, and they held the same feeling they did while he was in human form. The man truly was like a snake, being able to unleash himself as a snake.

"Sakura, I'm sorry," Naruto whispered, his eyes not leaving the enormous snake.

I swallowed, and took their hands in mine. "I am, too."

"I have a plan," Sasuke interrupted, not seeing a point in our little sorry fest. "Pick the biggest attack your chakra levels will allow. And on my signal, the three of us will attack at the same time."

We nodded, and I took my hands from theirs. We moved to different positions around the snake. The snake watched us, before it opened its mouth. Smaller snakes before to fall from its jaws, and disgust rolled through me. I went through all my jutsus in my mind, and I knew exactly which one I needed to pick.

* * *

_"Start studying that scroll I gave you when you get back to your room," Tobi instructed, and I nodded at him once more._

_He vanished from sight, and I started to make my way back to the base. The air was frigid cold, from the rain that had been pouring down an hour ago. Fighting in that rain had soaked me to the bone, and I was freezing. I quickly entered the base and found my room, and took a warm shower. I switched into some relaxing clothes, and began to study the scroll I was given, like Tobi instructed me to do._

_It was the elemental fist scroll he had given me in the library so long ago, and I was beginning to learn the hand signs for it. It was slightly frustrating to learn the hand signs for this jutsu at first, because they tended to go in an order the boggled my mind a bit. I would go through the appropriate signs, and suddenly notice I missed one or confused one. Now I could go through them almost perfectly, and I was getting good speed times for getting them through._

_Every time I practiced the hand signs, my chakra would stir. I had yet to actually test the jutsu. Tobi had told me to test it once I felt ready, but I didn't know if I was._

_I glanced over the technique once more. I didn't know which element to try first. I bit my lip, and looked over the different paths I had to follow. Each element had a different path, and it the jutsu seemed much more simple then before. I now realized that I didn't need to learn how to do each elemental path. If I wanted to, I could, but it would be much easier for me to do the paths that my chakra leaned towards first._

* * *

I watched the snake, waiting for Sasuke to preform the signal. There was a small explosion from Sasuke's side of the snake, and I knew that it was the signal. I sprang forwards, my hands in a fierce dance of hand signs. I could feel my chakra building up in my scarred arm and my other arm, and I begin to pull them back into fists. I jumped forward, heading straight for the snake.

* * *

_"Elemental Fists!"_

_"Kirin!"_

_"Rasenshuriken!"_

* * *

A large explosion covered the land, and Konoha could see the explosion even though it was miles from the village. The large clash of jutsu exploded in a bright array of colors, and for a moment the whole sky went white. Konoha nin and Akatsuki alike had to shield their eyes from the light, only to be hit by the strong burst of wind that came from the blast. It knocked nin of their feet, and crumbled down weak houses in its path.

When the light faded, the ninja could no longer see the snake that was Orochimaru any longer. Once the blast settled, everyone held their breath for a long moment. Suddenly, cheers began to burst out through the crowds. People began to cheer, whilst some began to cry. They held their fallen loved ones in their arms, but couldn't help but feel relief at the victory just as the others did.

Tsunade stood up from a newly healed ninja, her eyes staring at the wrecked around her, and felt her stomach swell with pride. Even if the village was destroyed, it could be restored. They had one, and that as all that mattered at one point. She looked around, and saw the Akatsuki pulling their ranks together to make sure that they were all there.

Pein glanced across each members face, and found that they were one short. He looked around, his eyes twitching back and forth almost frantically. His eyes met Tsunade's, and he called out to her, "Where is Sakura?"

Tobi seemed to twitch slightly, and he began to move his masked face around at his leader's words. He searched almost frantically, the other Akatsuki seeming to be doing the same.

Tsunade's head snapped around and found herself frantically searching. She noticed two important others missing. "Sasuke and Naruto are missing, too."

Kakashi heard what she had said, and felt his heart thump in his chest. His three students were missing. They couldn't be dead, he decided. He refused to believe it. They were strong, they had taken down Orochimaru. He refused to loose any of them, even the little Akatsuki student of his. He couldn't exactly call himself her teacher, because as he looked back her realized just how little he taught her. Either way, he cared, and he couldn't bare to see the war end this way.

Suddenly, ninja could feel the approach of three chakra signatures. They looked towards the gates, and instantly they were filled with relief. Three heads, topped with a familiar pink, yellow, and black, approached the crumbling village. Their hands, people noticed, were intertwined. Most were surprised that the young Uchiha even allowed himself to be touched, let alone have his hand held as he walked. But, he seemed perfectly fine with the contact.

The pink haired girl connecting them at the middle was smiling, bigger than the blond on her left. There was something different about her smile, Madara noticed. It was a smile that not even he would've been able to give her. She seemed full, almost complete. She looked lighter and much more happy then he had ever seen her.

Kakashi found himself breathing a breath he hadn't been able to release since he found out that his pink haired student had left the village. He slowly stood, ignoring the smarting of his body. He, like a few others, moved to greet the three at the destroyed gates.

Pein watched as the Akatsuki hurried towards the small pink haired girl, Tobi leading the pack. He, however, hung back to simply observe. She had grown so much, he realized. She had grown from the small girl who clung to his pant leg, asking for him to train her. She had grown from the memory-less girl who found her comfort in him. And she had grown from the pain-struck girl, who had been hindered by the truth of the of her past.

She had accepted what had happened, and she would be the bridge between two seemingly untouchable sides. Konoha and the Akatsuki were like to magnets that couldn't be forced together, so she was the piece of metal between them that they stuck to. She connected them together almost easily, Pein realized, as he felt slightly neutral towards the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

Pein watched as Tobi, or Madara, scooped the pink haired girl into his arms and begin to run away from the growing crowd, towards the remains of the inner village. He was instantly chased by several Akatsuki members and Konoha ninja. Pein didn't like that Madara was so interested in the pink haired girl, but there truely wasn't much he could do about it.

If she could defeat Orochimaru, he was sure that she could keep Madara on his toes.

**Sakura Haruno**

"There, that's the last of it," I whispered, shutting my closet with a soft thud.

I threw myself onto my bed, groaning into the pillow. I had never expected moving to be so much work. But, being back in Konoha seemed almost right. It made me feel complete. I lifted my head and placed my ear onto the pillow instead. I could hear my fellow Akatsuki waddling around the house, moving their things into their rooms and talking to each other.

I smiled softly to myself, but shivered when I felt a hand touch my waist. A body lay down next to me, and I was pulled into their chest. Fluffy, dark black hair tickled my face as it pooled over the other bodies shoulders and onto me. I lifted my hand and began to run my hand through their locks, smiling when I heard a hum of approval.

"Hi, Madara," I said softly, and I felt his lips touch my neck once.

"Hello, Blossom."

I turned in his grasp so that I could face him, and found my eyes staring into dark onyx. "Are you moved in properly?"

He nodded, kissing my lips softly. I smiled, pulling away before burying my face into his neck. His arms made a protective cage around me, and I found myself slowly falling asleep in his grasp. I felt his fingers petting along my spine, across the mark of the old seal placed on me. Despite how it broke, the seal forever stained my skin. It was much more sensitive, and Madara knew that.

I almost liked the seal. It was an explanation and reminder of my life. I would never forget the hardships I went through, and I didn't want to. Through them, I became stronger. I became a new woman, a new ninja, because of it. I made it through the war, and I managed to make new bonds to replace broken ones. Sometimes, there was bitterness, but it was easy to get it to pass.

Some people were still weary of the Akatsuki, but most had warmed up after seeing the Organization fight so fiercely for their village. Which, they truly did. That aside, it took me quite a while to completely warm up to and forgive the village. However, wounds healed. Even mental wounds could heal, with a little love. I reconnected with many whilst we helped rebuild the destroyed parts of Konoha.

It was still hard to be around some people, like the Council, but it slowly became easier to tolerate. It became easier to tolerate those who hated me, who hated the Akatsuki. It was easy to tolerate that it was time to forgive and forget. It was time to stop fighting, and start mending.

My life was like my seal. It was bathed in Crimson, blood shed and pain. But it was easier to deal with, easier to think about when the crimson was only ink. Some of it could be washed away, while some of it needed to stay. They would be reminders that would make me stronger.

My ending wasn't perfect, but I was perfectly content living a life stained in Crimson Ink.

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**Piper: And that's the end. I'm quite happy with this, considering I finally got off my ass and finished this. I had such bad writers block for this, but I refused to give up when I was only one chapter away from the end. I hope all of you enjoyed the story, and you can expect another story to come out sometime soon. Thank you all for reading and sticking with me through a lot.**

**Please review, and thank you all!**


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